Fidelity
by grey0716
Summary: Inspired by a rather intimidating yet powerful trainer who saves her, Serena aspires to become just like him in hopes of shedding her timid self and become a more confident person. However, she soon learns that the path in order to do so is much more dangerous than she had expected, and her fidelity to her goals are challenged as the truths about her 'savior' are revealed.
1. Trigger

**Fidelity**

 **Chapter 01: Trigger**

* * *

 **AN:** Y'know I think I'm doing too much, also since I'm in the middle of two other stories (soon to be three to five) but then again I don't really care and I like writing these things, so yeah. Hello there, grey0716 here, and as promised, I present to you a new story: my novelization of Pokemon XY: Fidelity! A brand new start, and a brand new story, and for once at a region not named Unova, so reviews, critiques and advice on how I can make this story better are welcome.

And for references sake:

"-word-" : Pokemon speaking. Humans cannot understand what they're saying unless they're something like N.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Pokémon or any of its existing/canon characters. This disclaimer is in effect for the entirety of the story so I don't have to repeat it over and over and over again in each chapter.**

Alright with that out of the way, let's get started!

* * *

" _So you think they will be awakened?"_

" _Affirmative. Calculations show that 'Life' and 'Death' shall be awakened by the humans."_

" _Hmph...Again with humanity digging their own graves...well? I'm going to assume that this will lead to another war."_

" _Affirmative. If 'Life' and 'Death' are awakened once more, then they shall continue their war from three centuries ago."_

" _...While rhetorical, what would happen if they resumed fighting?"_

" _Loading...loading...loading complete...calculations indicate that the region shall be plunged into an eternal cycle of life and death. Given eternal life, only to have it taken away, and then forcibly given life once more...like a cruel chain."_

" _...So that's why you asked for my help? To prevent this from happening?"_

" _Affirmative. Past indications provide evidence of your hand in helping humanity survive, 'Irregular'."_

" _What makes you think I'd help humans a third time?"_

" _Then this world is destined to perish. Countless Pokémon shall perish from the cycle. Calculations indicate that even you would not want this to happen."_

" _...Tch...Very well, 'Observer'. I'll play along to your tune. Let's just hope things go according to your 'calculations'."_

" _Negative. My calculations are never wrong. As the 'Observer', I am certain of this._

 _"You would think so, but you never know just how much 'humans' will screw them over."_

* * *

"Mom! I can't do this anymore! Please tell him to stop!"

In the small town of Vaniville Town, there was one girl, currently wishing for the cruel and unusual torment (according to her at least) to stop. The girl, wearing a pink tracksuit with her strawberry blonde hair tied up into a ponytail, was currently trying (and failing) to ride her pet rhyhorn as practice for the ever-famous sport of rhyhorn racing with watery blue eyes.

"C'mon, you can do it Serena!" someone called out. "Don't talk! You'll bite off your tongue like that!"

Serena's mother, who should be stopping this, was just watching her from afar, cheering on for the girl as she continued her fruitless struggles to ride the Ground/Rock-type brute. Now normally, this would be considered child abuse, but since Serena's mother was Grace Yvonne, world famous Rhyhorn racer, no one seemed to mind at all, dismissing the Serena's plights and torture as training to follow her mother's footsteps.

"This is impossible!" Serena cried. "Rhyhorn! Please stop!"

The rhyhorn, despite being Serena's favorite pet, was Grace's rhyhorn, so he had an obligation to obey Grace over Serena. The rhyhorn follow his master's wishes, ignoring his rider's pleas to simulate an actual Rhyhorn racer's practice.

' _Why did I agree to do this...?'_ the girl thought to herself. _'I can't control Rhyhorn well enough!'_

As if to spice things up, Rhyhorn then decided to charge out of the fence, with Serena clinging on to dear life.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" was all Grace could hear from her daughter as she and her old rhyhorn disappeared into the town.

"Oh dear, not again," her mother sighed. "I just hope Rhyhorn doesn't smack into someone."

* * *

Serena was hanging on for dear life as Rhyhorn bulldozed through Vaniville Town at a raging speed.

"Heel! Stop! Sit! Please I beg of you! C'mon, Rhyhorn!" Serena cried.

Rhyhorn didn't bother to listen to Serena, as he smashed through garbage pails, and making a trek into the town. As she continued to scream while trying to make him stop, she managed to pay attention long enough to register someone in front of them, as they barged into their property in a frenzy of raging Rhyhorn.

"OUT OF THE WAY!"

"Huh...?" the boy asked as he looked to her. "WHAT THE HELL–!?"

The poor lad didn't get to finish his sentence, as Rhyhorn smashed into him, sending him flying into a tree. Realizing this, Rhyhorn stopped, incidentally making Serena fly off of him and into the boy, further pummeling him.

"GUOUGH?!" the boy gagged.

"Ow...!" Serena moaned as she got up. "That hurt..."

"That's my line..."

Serena heard that and looked under her, to find that she was crushing the boy.

"Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-! Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Serena stuttered, while shooting away from him and apologizing frantically.

The boy angrily got back up from his pain. He had raven-black hair that reached down to his chin, while his dark, grey eyes glared sharply at Serena, who only flinched and cowered even more. He was wearing a blue jacket with white lining, and blue denim jeans and black combat boots. He rubbed his head in pain, muttering something under his breath.

"The hell was that about...?" the boy asked Serena.

"Uh-well-I-uh-I–," Serena began to panic and hyperventilate.

"Hey...you alright?" the boy asked, slowly approaching her.

"I-I'M SORRY!" Serena screamed before bulleting away from the boy, leaving both him and Rhyhorn in the dust.

"What the–!? Hey!" the boy yelled, but she was already gone.

The boy sighed, rubbing his ribs in pain, as he took notice to the rhyhorn that rammed into him. The Rock-type in question also glanced at him.

"The hell're you looking at?" the boy asked angrily.

The two glared at each other, until Rhyhorn decided to follow his master. The boy muttered something under his breath and headed back into his house.

* * *

Serena trotted back to her house defeated and gloomy, where Grace happened to meet up with her.

"Are you alright, honey?" Grace asked.

"Yeah..." Serena sighed. "But..."

"...You hit someone?" Grace asked, finishing Serena's sentence.

Serena nodded dejectedly.

"Did you at least apologize and made sure the person was okay?" Grace asked.

"K-Kinda...?" Serena replied weakly.

"You ran away, didn't you?" Grace asked.

Serena sighed and nodded, where her mother sighed as well.

"What am I gonna do with you?" Grace mumbled. "Serena, I know you feel bad, and it's not your fault. But you need to learn to be more confident. You can't stay like that forever, you know."

Serena sighed in defeat. She knew that she wasn't the most confident person in the world. She was scared of lots of things; bugs being the most prominent fear on her very, very, _**very**_ long list of phobias, and she had the self-esteem and personality of a cyndaquil and was easily intimidated, and unlike a cyndaquil, she didn't have a convenient pouch of fire to use when intimidated. She was a kind girl, no doubt, or at least she wants to believe that, but her timid nature and low self-esteem were easily her biggest faults. Faults that she desperately wants to overcome.

"I'm sorry Mom..." Serena sniffled.

"It's alright," Grace said as she pulled her daughter in for a hug. "We should go apologize to the person...but..."

Grace looked up to the sky. It was already night.

"But it's late," Grace said. "You go properly apologize to him first thing tomorrow morning."

"Yes ma'am," Serena said.

"Good. Now let's go eat dinner," Grace said.

* * *

The next day, the sun crept through the openings of Serena's window curtains, but they failed to wake up the sleepy girl as she continued to snooze off. Downstairs, in the kitchen, Grace was making breakfast for her and her daughter, wondering just how much longer it will take for her to wake up before she sends her fletchling and wake her up the hard way.

"She certainly takes after her father," Grace chuckled, until she heard someone knocking on the door. "Oh? Who could that be?"

Grace cut off the fire on the stove as she rushed over to open the door. Grace was greeted to a girl with slightly dark skin, pale mint eyes and long brown hair styled into pigtails. She was wearing a pink t-shirt decorated by three black bows and wore a pair of denim shorts and pink boots. A messenger bag was strapped over her, with a pink Holo Caster clipped onto the strap.

"Good morning, Mrs. Yvonne!" the girl greeted cheerfully.

"Oh good morning, Shauna," Grace smiled. "Are you here for Serena?"

"Yep! Is she still asleep?" Shauna asked.

"Hang on. I'll go get her," Grace said as she looked back to the stairs. "Looks like we're doing this the hard way...again...Fletcher! You know the drill."

The small robin that was on the couch, watching TV, chirped in response, and began to take flight, headed up to Serena's room. A few moments later, the scream of a girl followed by several thuds rang throughout the house.

"FLETCHER!" Serena's angry voice growled, where said Fletcher flew back down, snickering mischievously.

"Works every time," Grace said.

Serena came downstairs, still in her pink pajamas, obviously angry about the bird.

"You have a visitor," Grace said.

"Morning, Seré!" Shauna exclaimed.

"Morning Shauna..." Serena mumbled tiredly. "What's up?"

"You're not gonna believe this!" Shauna squealed. "You know Professor Sycamore, right?"

"Of course," Serena said. "He's the head researcher of Pokémon in the Kalos Region."

"Well, Trevs called me and Tierno and said that he's gonna give all of us a pokédex and our very first Pokémon!" Shauna announced.

"No way!?" Serena gasped.

"True chiz!" Shauna exclaimed. "So c'mon! Get dressed! We're meeting up with Tierno and Trevor at Aquacorde Town!"

"Yes!" Serena yelled, running back up to her room.

She ripped open her closet and quickly changed into her usual outfit; a collared black sleeveless shirt with a high waist red skirt, with black leggings and black laced shoes. Once she had changed, she quickly straightened out her hair and charged down the stairs.

"C'mon Shauna! Let's go!" Serena yelled, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Hold it right there!" Grace said, grabbing Serena by the collar just as she was about to bolt out of there. "You still need to apologize to the man whom you ran over with Rhyhorn."

"Er...right..." Serena muttered nervously, remembering what happened yesterday.

"I know you're excited and all, but priorities first!" Grace scolded. "Apologize first. Then go meet up with the others."

"Yes ma'am..." Serena mumbled.

"Again?" Shauna asked.

"Don't bring it up, please..." Serena whined to her best friend. "And sorry about this..."

"It's alright!" Shauna assured her. "I'll join up too! Just in case you need the extra help."

"Thanks," Serena said, somewhat relieved. At least she had someone she can trust with her.

"Which reminds me," Shauna said. "I had to deliver a letter to someone."

"To who?" Grace asked.

"To this new kid who apparently moved here recently," Shauna said. "His house shouldn't be far from here, since he just moved in, so I was supposed to give him this letter. Also doubles as a house-warming too! We'll do that, then go apologize to the guy you ran over with your mom's rhyhorn."

"Alright, be careful you two," Grace said.

"We will Mrs. Yvonne!" Shauna saluted to her.

"Will do, Mom," Serena said.

With that, the two girls took off, patting the sleeping rhyhorn on the way out, leaving Grace to herself.

"I just hope Serena will be okay," Grace sighed.

* * *

The two girls were walking down the street, headed to where Shauna had to deliver the letter.

"So you lost control and ended up smashing the poor guy into a tree?" Shauna asked.

"Yes..." Serena muttered.

"That has got to hurt..." Shauna said, cringing at the thought of getting smashed head on by Rhyhorn.

"I just hope he isn't angry..." Serena mumbled.

"Hey, I'm sure this guy's calmed down," Shauna assured her. "And it's not like you did it on purpose, so I'm sure he'll understand."

"You're right...I hope..." Serena muttered.

"C'mon, you need to learn how to be confident!" Shauna insisted. "Show some backbone! Dominate the male mass with your charm and make them your man-slaves! Then you'll really be confident!"

"Wha–Wh-where did that come from?!" Serena stuttered, embarrassed over the thought of the terms 'dominate' and 'man-slaves'. "That's not the kind of 'confidence' I need or want!"

"Aw..." Shauna muttered. "I kinda wanted to see that happen. It would've been really funny."

After they discussed some more, Shauna looked up.

"Hey, we're here!" Shauna announced.

Serena looked up to the house, and her stomach suddenly dropped. The house was oddly familiar, similar to the house she was at when–.

' _Oh no oh no oh no oh no...'_ Serena panicked internally.

"Seré? You alright?" Shauna asked, noticing Serena's cold sweating.

"H-Huh!? Oh i-it's nothing at all..." Serena stuttered.

Serena tried to play it off, but internally, she was panicking out of her life.

' _Are you serious!? This is definitely the house that I was at when that guy–wait, that guy is who Shauna's delivering the letter to!?'_ Serena thought.

"If you say so," Shauna shrugged. "Alright then."

As Shauna knocked on the door, several thoughts grew in her mind.

' _No...It could just be a coincidence, right?'_ Serena thought desperately. _'I mean what are the odds that the person I injured is the same person Shauna needs to deliver the letter to? It's slim...right?'_

Serena looked around, and saw a tree, with an odd indent in it.

' _Th-that could've been caused by anything...'_ Serena thought. _'...Right...?'_

"Yeah?"

The door opened up, where a boy with raven black hair and dark grey eyes lazily greeted them. He was wearing a white tank top which revealed that his torso was bandaged.

' _I should've known.'_ She whined internally while slowly hiding behind Shauna.

"Are you 'Calem Xavier?"

"Yeah, so what?" 'Calem' groggily asked.

"Hi, I'm Shauna Lumina," Shauna said. "And this is Serena Yvonne."

"Eek! Uh-uh...hi..." Serena squeaked.

"Whatever," Calem grumbled before noticing Serena hiding behind Shauna. "Hey, you're the chick from before."

"Eh!?" Serena blurted.

"Yeah, you're the chick with the damn rhyhorn who smashed me into the tree," Calem muttered, pointing to said tree.

"Ooh...that's gotta hurt..." Shauna cringed.

"It did," Calem said flatly.

"Right...about that...uh...I..." Serena mumbled, before bowing apologetically. "I'm so sorry about that! I didn't mean to, I swear! I was just practicing my rhyhorn racing skills, and I lost control and all this happened and I'm really sorry!"

Calem looked down to the girl, who was at the verge of breaking down. He sighed, and scratched his head.

"Look, get up," Calem muttered. "It's not like I died or anything, so I guess it's alright."

"H-Huh...?" Serena asked, until she noticed his bandaged torso. "B-But I hurt you! And you're just gonna leave it like that!?"

"Look, it's obvious someone like you wouldn't have done that on purpose," Calem said.

"Wh-What makes you so sure about that?" Serena asked, somewhat offended.

"Oh, so you did do it on purpose then?" Calem inquired, giving Serena a sharp glare.

"N-no sir!" Serena immediately shot up.

"See? Someone like you wouldn't be able to attempt to commit essential murder," Calem said bluntly. "Besides, I'm not the type to sue girls. I'm not that much of a douche, and I already have enough bullshit to deal with."

"I-I see..." Serena said timidly. _'At least he forgives me...'_

"Now then," Calem said. "Shauna, was it? You knew my name before I even introduced myself. Does that mean you have something for me then?"

"Right, here!" Shauna exclaimed, handing Calem a letter.

"A letter?" Calem asked as he checked the envelope, before he leered at it. "...Sycamore...?"

"Yep, he told me to deliver this letter to you," Shauna explained as she handed him the letter. "And guess what? You've been chosen to get a pokédex and a Pokémon from Professor Sycamore!"

"...What?" Calem flatly asked, not amused in the slightest as he accepted the letter.

"Wait...him too!?" Serena gasped.

"Well that's a rather harsh way to express your opinion," Calem deadpanned to Serena.

"I–I didn't mean it like that!" Serena blubbered.

Calem only sighed, then turned to Shauna.

"Explain," he ordered her.

"You, Serena and I, along with two of our friends, were chosen to get a pokédex and explore the Kalos Region to complete the Kalos Pokédex!" Shauna explained. "Although I don't know why Professor Sycamore chose you, or even knew you to begin with. No offense, but you did just move here."

"None taken," Calem said as he eyed the letter. "And what's this letter for then?"

"Professor Sycamore told me to give this to you," Shauna said.

"Tch..." Calem muttered. "Goddamn playboy..."

"What was that?" Shauna asked.

"Nothing," Calem said as he eyed the letter in his hand.

He proceeded to rip the envelope open, grab the letter in it and skimmed through it. The content of the letter wasn't that interesting to the boy.

"So he has five kids do his dirty work for him, eh?" Calem muttered. "Why do professors keep doing that?"

As he read through the letter, something caught his interest. He read the rest of it intently, then crumpled the letter and tossed it into the garbage can.

"So they finally made a move..." Calem muttered.

"Huh?" Serena asked.

"Nothing," Calem said. "...Fine, I'll take on the pokédex."

"You will?!" Serena gasped.

"Might as well," Calem said. "So? Where do I pick it up?"

"One of our friends has it with him at Aquacorde Town," Shauna explained.

"Fine," Calem said. "I'll meet you two there."

"Huh? You're not gonna come with us?" Serena asked.

Calem leered at her incredulously. Serena looked at him questioningly, until Shauna nudged her in the side and pointed at him. He was only wearing a tank top and black sweatpants, making the girl realize what he meant, and blush and cover her eyes. Calem rolled his eyes and closed the door, leaving the two girls at the front.

"Well, he wasn't the friendliest guy," Shauna sighed. "I wonder why Professor Sycamore enlisted him."

Shauna glanced at Serena, who still looked a bit uneasy.

"C'mon, lighten up," Shauna said, patting her on the back. "I'm sure he'll open up once we get to know him."

"I-I guess..." Serena mumbled.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the two girls hurried off to their destination.

* * *

Calem grumbled something under his breath as he took a seat in his couch. His house was full of boxes stuffed with essentials, silverware, plates and whatnots. The couch, along with a coffee table with several papers on it were the only things that didn't need to be boxed.

Ignoring all of this, Calem went over and changed into his blue denim jeans, grabbed his blue jacket and wore it over his tank top. He went over to the coffee table, grabbed all the papers on it, and neatly shoved them into his messenger bag. From the bag, he took out a black ring-like object and equipped it onto his right wrist.

Wearing his combat boots, Calem was about to leave his house, before noticing a picture frame on his drawer. He took a look at it, where in the frame was a picture of a young boy, and a young woman with brown hair. There seemed to be a man in the picture, but the face was ripped out, making it virtually impossible to identify him.

Despite his face being ripped out of the picture, making it unable to recognize the man, Calem knew who excatly he was, and scowled at the thought of _that man._

After glaring at it, Calem placed the frame back onto the drawer and slammed the door behind him, not even taking a glance behind.

* * *

Aquacorde Town. A town that neighbors Vaniville Town, it just takes a walk through Route 1, a very short route, considered one of the shortest routes in the world. In the plaza, two boys were talking to each other. One of them was a large, heavy-set boy with black hair that resembled that of a torchic's head, and wore a large black t-shirt that has a vanillite design on it, orange cargo shorts, a yellow backpack, and matching black and yellow shoes. The other boy was a short boy with round orange hair and wore a grey t-shirt with white sleeves, grey pants, a green backpack and matching green shoes. Around the boy's neck was a green Holo Caster, a high tech device recently invented that allowed people to communicate via holograms.

"I wonder what's taking them so long?" the short boy asked.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon," the large boy said.

"Heey! Tiern! Trevs!"

The two boys looked up and saw Shauna running up to them, with Serena trailing from behind.

"You two sure took your time," the short boy said.

"Hey, it isn't our fault Trevs," Shauna argued.

"That reminds me," the large boy commented. "Weren't you two supposed to bring the fifth kid here?"

"He said he was gonna catch up with us, Tiern," Shauna said.

"I see then," Tierno said.

"Is that him?" Trevor asked, pointing elsewhere.

They all turned to see Calem, in his attire that Serena recognized as his attire he wore when he moved to Vaniville.

"That's him," Shauna said.

Calem glanced over to the four kids, leering at them. While the three were a bit unnerved and intimidated, the leer was enough to make Serena look down in fear.

"So you must be Calem Xavier," Tierno said, breaking the ice. "I'm Tierno Flamenco, and this is Trevor Conoscenza. You already met Serena and Shauna."

Calem gave a courteous and acknowledging nod as he took a seat next to Serena. The girl, surprised, shuffled a few inches away from him.

"Seré..." Shauna sighed, as Calem rolled his eyes.

"Well, as you were told, Professor Sycamore has enlisted the five of us to complete the Kalos Pokédex," Tierno said. "And the three of you are to receive one of the starter Pokémon."

"I've been waiting for this!" Shauna suddenly squealed, accidentally pushing Serena asides rather roughly. "C'mon, c'mon! I wanna see my new partner!"

Serena ended up landing onto Calem, letting out an "eep!" Calem simply leered at Shauna. Tierno released the pokéballs as Calem gently pushed Serena back up. On the left was a small, bipedal hedgehog-like Pokémon with a light brown front with dark brown arms and has a green shell covering its back that extended from its head to halfway down its tail. In the middle was a small fox-like Pokémon with pale yellow fur and had tufts of dark orange fur that cover the insides of its ears. And next to the fox was a small frog-like Pokémon with light blue skin, white hands and had a large mane of bubbles from its chest and back.

"The three Pokémon from left to right are Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie," Tierno explained. "Chespin is a Grass-type, Fennekin is a Fire-type, and Froakie is a Water-type."

"Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie, huh..." Serena said as she examined the three Pokémon, pondering on which one she should choose.

"Oh. My. God! That is the cutest thing EVAH!" Shauna suddenly squealed as she grabbed the fennekin. "I pick Fennekin!"

"Is that alright with you, Serena?" Trevor asked.

"C'mon, please Seré!" Shauna begged. "Kinniekins and I are made for each other! We go together great! We're just way-ay-ay too cute!"

"She already nicknamed it..." Tierno said uneasily.

"Sure, if that's what you want, Shauna," Serena said.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Shauna boomed as she hugged Kinniekins. "My name is Shauna, Kinniekins! Nice to meet you!"

' _-Well, at least she's energetic,-'_ Kinniekins thought to herself. _'-She seems pretty nice.-'_

"And what about you, Serena?" Tierno asked.

Serena glanced back to Chespin and Froakie. She glanced over to Froakie, who was just sitting there, seemingly staring at Serena. The stoic expression with the wide eyes ended up unnerving the poor timid girl. She glanced over to Chespin, who looked up to her with a more benevolent and curious expression. The hedgehog was cute in her eyes.

"You don't seem too scary..." Serena mumbled. "You're pretty cute too..."

"So do you want to choose Chespin?" Tierno asked.

"Yes, I choose Chespin," Serena answered.

"Alright then," Tierno said, handing her Chespin's pokéball. "Are you gonna nickname him?"

Serena looked at Chespin as he looked at her curiously.

"Hmm..." Serena said. "How about...'Marisso'? Is that alright with you?"

Chespin nodded his head in excitement. Apparently he liked the name 'Marisso'.

"Alright then, I'm Serena, and I'm your new trainer," Serena said. "Let's get along..."

"-Nice to meet you, Serena,-" Marisso responded by giving her a little bow.

"And it would seem that you get Froakie, Calem," Tierno said.

Calem glanced at Froakie, who glanced back at Calem. After they spent a few moments simply staring at each other, Calem shrugged his shoulders, while Froakie simply nodded in acknowledgment.

"Whatever," Calem muttered.

"Hey, how about we give you a nickname, Calem?" Shauna offered. "I mean since we're gonna be traveling together and all. I feel it'll make us a closer crew."

"Yeah, you have a point Shauna," Tierno said.

"No than–," Calem said but was interrupted by the girl.

"I vote on Lil' C!" Shauna declared, completely ignoring Calem's opinion.

"No way, he's definitely a C-Meister!" Tierno argued. "Trevs, what do you think?"

"W-What?!" Trevor stammered. "You want me to nickname someone I just met?! Trevor, Shauna, you two shouldn't put people on the spot like this."

"Uh guys...?" Serena tried to intervene, noticing Calem getting agitated.

"Like I said, no tha–," Calem tried to interrupt to no avail.

"Then what do you think we should call Lil' C here?" Shauna asked.

"Well...how about something low key?" Trevor suggested. "Maybe...something like Big C?"

"No way, Trevs! C'mon you gotta really think about it!" Tierno urged his best friend.

"Guys maybe we should stop–," Serena said timidly.

"What about you Seré?" Shauna asked. "What do you think we should call Lil' C then?"

"I..." Serena mumbled, glancing nervously over to Calem.

Having enough of the conversation and being ignored, Calem slammed his palms to the table hard, getting everyone's attention.

"I SAID NO THANKS!" Calem growled, startling everyone at the table. "Now, Tierno, was it? You said something about the pokédex, right?"

"W-Well, yeah..." Tierno said somewhat uneasily.

"Then give it to me already," Calem practically ordered.

"S-Sure," Tierno stammered, intimidated by Calem.

As Tierno rushed through his things to get the pokédexes, Calem earned himself a glare from Shauna.

"What's with your temper?! We were only trying to be friendly!" Shauna yelled.

"I never asked for that," Calem shot back. "And for the record, I never wanted a 'nickname' or whatever to begin with. Or at least I tried to, before you decided to crank up the volume."

The three looked shocked at Calem, who simply leered in the other direction. Tierno finally got out the pokédexes; three red card-shaped like devices, and handed them to Calem, Serena and Shauna hastily.

"So this is the pokédex?" Serena asked.

"Yep," Tierno said. "Just push the button in the middle to activate it and it should register you as its owner."

The three of them did so and pushed the button in the middle. The pokédexes then scanned their fingerprints.

"User analysis complete," the pokédexes said in a monotonous tone.

"There, all set," Tierno said. "Just aim the pokédex at a Pokémon you don't know to record the data."

"Good," Calem said. "Now then, I'll be on my way."

"Huh?! Wait a minute!" Shauna yelled as Calem got back up. "I thought you agreed to go on the journey with us!"

"What?" Calem asked. "I only said that 'I'll take on the pokédex.' I never agreed to go on a journey with you idiots."

"Excuse me?!" Shauna gasped.

Ignoring Shauna, Calem got up and headed towards the exit of the town. Froakie jumped off the table and followed his new trainer.

"Hold up!" Shauna yelled, chasing after him with Kinniekins in her hands.

"Shauna! Wait!" Serena exclaimed, chasing after her friend, with Marisso in pursuit.

That left the two boys by themselves. Trevor sighed in relief, while Tierno sighed in exhaustion.

"Why did Professor Sycamore choose him, anyways?" Trevor asked.

"The professor must have had a good reason to do so," Tierno reasoned. "I just hope the girls don't blow a fuse with him."

* * *

As they entered Route 2, Shauna finally caught up with Calem, who stopped, noticing her presence.

"What do you want now?" Calem asked.

"What do I want? I want you to apologize now!" Shauna yelled.

"Shauna, wait up..." Serena whined as she finally caught up to her.

Calem glanced at Serena, then shifted his glare at Shauna, who was returning it with her own.

"And what do I apologize for?" Calem asked. "I never agreed to go on your stupid journey with you. You just assumed that."

"But shouldn't we go on the journey together, since we have the pokédexes?" Serena tried to reason.

"Maybe, but I work alone," Calem replied back. "So if you're done, then scram. I'm gonna head off now."

"That tears it!" Shauna yelled, letting Kinniekins land onto the ground. "You and I are going to battle! NOW!"

"Wha–Shauna?!" Serena gasped.

"Really now," Calem said, somewhat interested.

"If I win, then you apologize!" Shauna yelled.

"And if I win?" Calem asked.

"Then you can do whatever you want, and I'll apologize," Shauna muttered.

"Fair enough," Calem said. "But you sure you're up for this?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shauna asked, rather agitated.

"Your fennekin is a Fire-type, and Froakie here is a Water-type," Calem said. "It doesn't take rocket science to know that Froakie has the type advantage. And you just got Fennekin, so skill won't certainly save you here."

"Why you..." Shauna grumbled, angry that he had a point.

"Shauna, let's just drop it and let him do what he wants..." Serena tried to dissuade her friend.

"Then Serena will help me!" Shauna suddenly declared.

"Wha–ME?!" Serena gasped. "Nonononononononono–I can't fight! This is my first time having a Pokémon battle!"

"C'mon, Seré, help me out here," Shauna pleaded. "As much as I hate to admit it, he has a point. Froakie is a Water-type, and Kinniekins is a Fire-type. But Marisso is a Grass-type, which has the advantage against Froakie."

"B-But..." Serena mumbled, before caving for the sake of her friend. "O-Okay..."

"Yes!" Shauna exclaimed. "Alright, you got yourself a battle!"

"Good," Calem said. "The sooner we do this, the sooner I'm rid of you brats."

Froakie looked at Calem rather uneasily. This was Froakie's first battle, and he had to fight both Fennekin and Chespin?

"Just trust me and follow my commands exactly," Calem told his partner. "We'll win this."

Froakie looked a little disbelieving, but complied nonetheless.

* * *

"Alright, Kinniekins! Time for our battling debut!" Shauna exclaimed as Kinniekins got in front of Shauna.

"M-Marisso!" Serena exclaimed, as Marisso got in a defensive stance.

"You can have the first move," Calem said as Froakie took a fighting stance.

"Alright then, Kinniekins, Tackle!" Shauna swiftly commanded.

Kinniekins complied quickly and charged at Froakie.

"Jump and use Pound when it gets under you," Calem simply commanded.

Froakie complied and jumped to the air, dodging Kinniekins completely, then pounded Kinniekins with his hand as she passed under him.

"Kinniekins!" Shauna cried. "C'mon, Seré! Help me out!"

"Wah! S-Sorry!" Serena squeaked. "Marisso...uh...use Tackle!"

Marisso complied and charged at Froakie as the frog landed on the ground.

"Growl," Calem commanded.

Froakie let out a growl, discouraging Marisso somewhat and making him slow down a little during the Tackle.

"Now intercept with Pound."

Froakie then smashed his hand at Marisso as the hedgehog charged at him. Froakie managed to push Marisso back, causing the Grass-type to tumble back. Froakie landed back in front of Calem, genuinely surprise that he's able to fend off two opponents with ease.

"What?" Serena asked, somewhat confused.

"Growl lowers your opponents attack," Calem explained. "So it weakened your chespin's Tackle, allowing Froakie to overpower it."

"Kinniekins, use Ember!" Shauna yelled.

The fox got back up and spewed small flames at Froakie from behind.

"Turn around and use Bubble."

Froakie made a quick 180 turn and spewed a stream of bubbles at Kinniekins, erasing the Embers and blasting Kinniekins with bubbles.

"-Kyaaa!?-" Kinniekins yelped as she was hit with the water attack.

"Kinniekins, no!" Shauna cried.

"Shauna!" Serena gasped. "Marisso...uh...what do you know...?"

As it in reply, thin vines came out from Marisso's collar as he ran at Froakie and unleashed them at the frog.

"Grab them," Calem commanded.

Froakie turned around as the vines headed for him and grabbed them right before they were about to hit.

"Eh?!" Serena blurted.

"Your attack was lowered, remember?" Calem reminded her. "At least you're using a type advantage though."

"Why can't we land a single hit on him!?" Shauna yelled. "Ember!"

Kinniekins got back up and spewed more flames at Froakie while he was still occupied with Marisso.

"Hurl Chespin at Fennekin," Calem commanded.

Froakie mustered up enough strength to yank at the vines and pull Marisso towards him, then hurled the Grass-type at the incoming Embers, using him as a shield from the fire and a projectile that crashed into the fox.

"Marisso!" Serena cried.

"Sorry!" Shauna said to Serena.

"Finish Fennekin off with Bubble."

As the two mammals got back up, Froakie spewed another stream of bubbles. They had no time to react, so the bubbles hit them head on, making the fox faint from the impact.

"Oh no, Kinniekins!" Shauna cried.

"One down, one to go," Calem muttered.

"-Kinniekins!-" Marisso cried.

"Now, what're we gonna do with you?" Calem asked Serena. "You can always back down."

"H-Huh?" Serena asked as Shauna rushed over to heal her partner.

"You were dragged into this," Calem said. "So it's only fair that you get the choice in the matter. Do you want to quit now? Or do you want to continue?"

Serena looked somewhat shocked at Calem's offer. She was about to call off the battle, until she saw Shauna tending to her partner. She couldn't let her friend down, but how was she to win this? Even if Marisso had the type advantage, it was clear that Calem was far more experienced than both of them, utilizing Froakie's superior speed to outmaneuver both of them. It was a losing battle.

"So?" Calem asked. "What'll it be?"

"I-I..." Serena mumbled, before making up her mind. "I won't concede!"

"Well now," Calem said, somewhat impressed by her sudden courage.

"Seré?" Shauna asked, surprised by her friend's declaration.

"You entrusted me to help you win this battle," Serena said to Shauna. "And I don't want to let you down!"

"...Interesting," Calem smirked as Froakie took another fighting stance.

"Can you go on, Marisso?" Serena asked him.

Marisso nodded in response, motivated by his trainer. But as they were about to continue, a buzzing noise came from the trees around them.

"What was that?" Shauna asked.

The buzzing sound grew and grew, until finally a swarm of large bipedal wasps, angrily surrounding them.

"Wah!" Serena cried.

"What the–?!" Shauna gasped.

"Tch...A horde of beedrills," Calem muttered. "We must've stepped in their territory."

* * *

The beedrills began to attack them one by one. The three of them made a run for it back to town, with the beedrills in pursuit. One of the beedrills shot several streams of white orbs at them.

"Duck!" Calem yelled, where they all dropped to the ground, managing to avoid the steams. "Pin Missile..."

"Can't we stop them!?" Serena asked.

"We could if you hadn't taken down Kinniekins!" Shauna yelled at Calem, holding her unconscious Fire-type.

"Bubble!" Calem yelled to Froakie.

Froakie spewed his stream of bubbles at the beedrills, but the wasps swatted them away easily with their long stingers.

"Tch...These guys won't do..." Calem muttered.

Another beedrill's stinger began to glow a sickly bright purple, as it aimed it at Marisso.

"Crap, it's aiming Poison Jab at Chespin!" Calem yelled.

Before Serena could do anything about it, the beedrill lunged for Marisso. Marisso managed to dodge the attack barely, while another beedrill aimed its stinger at Marisso and fired another set of Pin Missiles.

"Marisso duck!" Serena yelled.

Marisso ducked and avoided the missiles, but they were now headed for Serena.

"Seré!" Shauna cried.

Marisoo looked behind to see the attack heading for her way and pushed her down, avoiding the Pin Missiles barely.

"Th-thanks, Marisso..." Serena said.

Marisso gave a weak smile, before facing the beedrills.

"-You bullies!-" Marisso yelled. "-Go pick on someone your own size!-"

The beedrills looked at Marisso as if they were analyzing him. After a while, the beedrill aimed its stinger at Marisso and lunged for him. Marisso tried to retaliate with Vine Whip, but the beedrill swatted it away and stabbed him with his stinger.

"-Agh!-" Marisso gagged.

"Marisso!" Serena cried as she rushed over to his aid.

The beedrills began to gather around Serena and Marisso, as she held Marisso in her arms.

"Are you alright?" Serena asked.

Marisso groaned in pain, as he tried to get out of her grasp to face the beedrills to no avail.

"Stop! You can't fight anymore!" Serena yelled.

The beedrills began to buzz some more, seemingly communicating with one another, until one of them formed another Poison Jab and aimed it at Serena.

"Seré!" Shauna cried.

The beedrill stared at Serena, then lunged in for the kill. Seeing no way out of it, Serena could do nothing but brace for the incoming attack, closing her eyes and shielding Marisso with her own body.

"Looks like that's your limit."

Serena expected the needle to pierce her body, but nothing happened. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see what had happened.

"Eh?" she asked.

In front of her was Calem holding a pokéball that was completely red and somewhat glossy, and in front of him was a large bipedal avian-like creature with a primarily red body with accents of beige, yellow and gray, holding the beedrill's stinger in place with its talon-like claws. Behind its head were beige hair-like feathers that continue down and surrounded its chest and abdomen.

* * *

"...What...?" Serena asked.

"-Whoa...-" Marisso said in awe.

"What is that...?" Shauna asked, having never seen such a Pokémon before.

Serena snapped out of her shock and activated her pokédex and scanned the Pokémon in front of her.

"Entry data does not exist in current version of the Kalos Central Pokédex," it read.

"What?" Serena asked.

"Blaziken isn't part of the Kalos Pokédex," Calem explained. "Hell, he isn't even native to this region."

"Blaziken?" Serena asked, looking up to the Pokémon in question.

Blaziken didn't respond and was simply staring at the beedrill he was holding. The beedrill began to panic and tried to break free from its grasp.

"Eliminate the targets in front of you," Calem ordered.

Blaziken nodded in response as fire began to exhaust from his wrist, burning the beedrill's stinger. Crying in agony, the beedrill tried to desperately break free to no avail. Blaziken decided to grant its wish and hurled it at the other beedrills.

"Flamethrower."

The fire around Blaziken's wrist began to surround his fist, as he aimed his arm at the beedrills. He then released an intense stream of flames from it, blasting the wasps with extreme flames. As he scorched the wasps in the fire, a blue spark emitted around Blaziken.

"Whoa!" Shauna gasped.

Some of the beedrills managed to avoid the Flamethrower and unleashed a storm of Pin Missiles at Blaziken. Blaziken simply opened his claw, making the Flamethrower spread out into a sort of shield, protecting him and everyone behind him from the Pin Missiles with a shield of fire. While Serena, Shauna and Marisso were in pure shock and awe, Calem still had his icy and uncaring look, unimpressed by the spectacle in front of him. All while another blue spark emitted around Blaziken. Once the storm was done, one of the beedrills turned to see Shauna by herself, and made a mad dash for her, brandishing its stinger in the process.

"SHAUNA!" Serena screamed in fear.

Calem simply gestured to Shauna, where Blaziken dropped his shield and seemingly vanished, then reappeared in front of Shauna before the beedrill got close and smashed his foot into the Bug-type's head, sending him crashing into a tree.

"How is it so fast?" Serena asked.

"Blaziken has a Hidden Ability that most of his species don't possess," Calem revealed.

"A Hidden Ability?" Serena asked.

"Speed Boost," Calem explained. "After every move that Blaziken does, whether they be an attack or defense, his speed will increase by one stage until it reaches its peak."

The beedrills got enraged, and they all aimed their stingers at Blaziken, charging up a massive amount of energy.

"Oh no, that's Hyper Beam!" Shauna gasped.

"Pathetic," Calem simply scoffed as Blaziken raised his arm.

They all fired their Hyper Beams at Blaziken, who in response slammed his claw into the ground, causing a huge spiked rock to shoot out from the ground and shield him and everyone behind him from the Hyper Beams. The beams were unable to break through the stone and dispersed to the sides.

"Woah...!" Shauna gasped.

Serena just sat there as she stared at Calem and his Pokémon in awe. The man just stood there with his arms crossed; a calm, somewhat bored gaze written all over his face upon the one-sided battle in front of him, showing absolutely no sign of worry or anxiety.

' _His expression shows no worry...no fear...just an absolute sense of confidence with absolute power...'_ Serena thought. _'This is it...the kind of courage...the kind of confidence that can help me overcome my own fears...'_

"This is becoming a waste of time," Calem muttered. "Blaziken, end it."

Blaziken nodded in response as he shattered the stone, sending the debris at the wasps. The Fire-type then sprung into the air at a startling speed and height.

"Brave Bird."

A fiery aura surrounded Blaziken as he curled up into a ball, quickly breaking out soon after while releasing a harsh cry. Fire began to form behind him, looking like they were bursting from his back and formed two blazing wings.

Blaziken then descended to the earth and charged straight for the bees, ramming and annihilating every single one of the beedrills, one at a time in a red blur of flares.

With only one left, Blaziken stopped his onslaught and glared at the bee. The beedrill, fearing its life, made no hesitation to flee, but the Fire-type zoomed past the bee and unleashed a nasty lariat, sending the poor Bug-type flying. Once the last threat was neutralized, Blaziken stopped his aura and landed on the ground, blue sparks harshly covering him from the recoil.

"-Target neutralized,-" Blaziken reported.

* * *

"Nice work, Blaziken," Calem said.

Blaziken nodded in acknowledgment. Calem then turned to the two girls, who were still awestruck from the onslaught that his Pokémon just unleashed.

"...Do you get it now?" Calem asked the two, which snapped them out of their stupor. "This is our difference. This is why I work alone. If you get that, then don't bother me."

As Calem turned around, he noticed Froakie, who was still in a similar stupor as the girls. "If you want out, then now's your only chance."

Froakie snapped out of it and looked up to his trainer. The power his Pokémon unleashed was unbelievable. Not to mention the trainer's skill was top-notch; he was definitely no amateur. The fact that his coordination allowed Froakie to outmaneuver two opponents at once, with relative ease, was proof enough. A spark lit up in the frog. The froakie wanted to see just what kind of path the boy would take; and was planning to take, that made him and his regal companion so strong.

By following him, surely he too would be able to obtain such power.

Fortunately for Froakie, Calem noticed the flare in his eyes.

"So that's what you want," Calem said, before smirking. "You better not regret it then."

Calem took out Froakie's pokéball and recalled his Water-type partner, adding him to his party. He glanced over to the two girls, rummaged through his bag and took out two potions, which he tossed to them.

"Here. Use them to heal your Pokémon," Calem said.

"T-Thank you..." Serena said.

Saying nothing more, Calem turned around to leave.

"Ah–Wait!" Serena yelled.

Calem stopped and glanced at her.

"W-We just wanted to thank you for saving us..." Serena mumbled. "And w-we also wanted to apologize for troubling you before."

"Wait, what–?!" Shauna yelled, before receiving a glare from Serena, shutting her up. "Yeah...we're sorry."

"Whatever," Calem said.

"And also..." Serena said. "W-We never got to finish our battle...but I know I can't possibly take you on now."

"True," Calem said. "You two combined couldn't take on a froakie that just started battling. If I had unleashed Blaziken on you two, it wouldn't even last for five seconds."

His dry wit still managed to tick off Shauna, where Serena kept her from lunging at the boy, even though he was right.

"...If that's the problem, then get stronger," Calem simply said. "Become strong enough to take me on then. I'll gladly finish our battle then."

With that, Calem headed for the woods beyond the route they were on, leaving Serena and Shauna with their own partners, as they quickly healed their Pokémon with it.

"Man, he still manages to pull off being a jerk," Shauna grumbled. "Even if he did save our lives..."

Shauna looked up to Serena for a response, but all she got was her staring at Calem's retreating form.

"Serena...?" she asked, but still got no response.

"Serena! Shauna!"

The two girls turned to see Tierno and Trevor racing up to them.

"Are you two alright?!" Tierno asked as he caught up to them.

"Y-Yeah," Shauna said.

"Huh...? Where's Calem?" Trevor asked, looking around to find that the boy was not here.

"He went on ahead," Shauna said. "So get this!"

As Shauna explained to the two boys of what had happened, Serena stared back at where Calem had headed off. She picked up Marisso, who was glancing at Serena curiously.

"Marisso," Serena said. "Do you think we can become as strong as him?"

"-Of course!-" Marisso squeaked, encouraging his master with a thumbs up. "-We just have to work hard!-"

Despite being unable to understand what Marisso said, she could tell that he was answering 'yes', encouraging her to go for it.

"Serena!" Shauna exclaimed, getting her attention. "C'mon, we're heading back!"

"Okay!" Serena called back, as she and Marisso headed back to their group.

The girl rushed back to her friends, contemplating on becoming as strong as Calem. Definitely not today, would she be able to become that, but maybe, just maybe. If she trained hard, and never give up, then maybe she could become as strong as Calem.

Hopefully, she would be able to shed her timid self on the path to become a strong, more confident trainer.

* * *

"Pound."

Froakie jumped over a zigzagoon, avoiding its tackle, as he landed on the raccoon's head, knocking it out.

Satisfied, Calem nodded in approval, as he looked around the depths of Santalune Forest. He lifted his arm to a certain direction, where the strange stone on his wrist ring began to glow brilliantly. He slowly shifted his arm to the other direction, where the stone dimmed slightly, before retaining the initial luster.

"So there's two of them..." Calem commented, as Froakie returned to his side.

Calem pointed to the first direction, ordering Froakie to search for a certain item, which his frog complied. As Froakie was searching for what Calem had instructed him to find, Calem went to the other direction, searching for something. Using the brilliant light from his wrist ring as an indicator, Calem quickly found a small stone with a blue, orange and red swirl crystallized in it. Picking the stone up, Froakie returned to him.

"Did you find it?" Calem asked.

"-Yeah,-" Froakie responded, placing a similar stone with a light brown, orange and dark brown swirl crystallized in it.

"So there were two of them..." Calem commented, examining the two stones in each of his palms.

Froakie curiously examined the stones in Calem's hand along with his trainer.

"...Heracronite...and Pinsirite..." Calem commented.

Calem examined the two stones, before carefully putting them in his bag.

"...We got what we came here for," Calem told Froakie. "...Let's go."

"-Got it,-" Froakie nodded in response, as he rested on Calem's shoulder and the boy ventured on ahead.

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN** :That should be a good place to end it off. Hopefully this was a good start off for the journey through Kalos, starring our timid heroine aspiring to become a strong trainer, Serena, and the cold, elitist and not-rookie rival, Calem.

If you liked what you read, then that's great. Make sure to favorite and follow this story to stay up to date on when it gets updated. If you don't, well thanks for stopping by. Again, reviews, comments and critiques are welcome, just keep them classy and civil.

Also I will warn you ahead of time, don't expect fast updates like other stories. Especially since I'm juggling at least 2 other stories, and there's at least one more to come (a story based off of Platinum, which has been highly requested). So some patience will be needed. Sorry about that, but I have a life too y'know.

And speaking of Platinum, a story for Platinum is currently under development, so stay tuned for that. Following me would help so you would be informed of when it comes out and you don't have to wait for an indefinite amount of time or fish through the myriads of stories in the site. i mean you don't have to, but it seems like the easier route.

Okay, that should be everything, so I'll see you next time. Thanks for coming, and take care.


	2. First Day on the Job

**Fidelity**

 **Chapter 2: First Day on the Job**

* * *

 **AN:** Well, two months seems like enough time to make this haha...

In all seriousness though, I'm sorry for taking so long in writing this chapter. Like, I know I said that it would take a while next chapter, but not THIS much! Ever since college started, I was just getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter, which combined with my job, took up a lot of my time. Hell I was lucky that I was able to update any other story. Hopefully with things calming down a little, I can find more time to write more.

Enough of my personal problems however! Now to reply to the reviews:

* * *

"Mh hmm..." Grace mumbled as she read through the letter that her daughter had handed her.

After returning home after receiving her starter and pokédex, she had received a letter from Trevor, instructed to give to her mother. Serena did as she was told, and Grace was currently reading through the letter. Serena was currently twiddling with her fingers, as her chespin, Marisso, was playing around with Rhyhorn outside.

"I see..." Grace mumbled.

"M-Mom...?" Serena asked.

"...I knew this day would come," Grace sighed. "Personally I wished it hadn't come this soon, but I can't do much about it."

"Huh?"

Grace went over to the closet, before taking out a pink bag with black decals on it and handing it to Serena.

"What's this...?" Serena asked.

"I packed all the essentials you need for your journey," Grace said. "I even packed a change of clothes for you."

"Really!?" Serena gasped.

Grace placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders, kneeling eye-to-eye to her.

"Serena, it's a big world out there," Grace said. "Personally I don't want you to go out on this big journey until you at least gotten over your fears of...practically everything."

"M-Mom..." Serena mumbled.

"But I guess now that fate brought you this, there's no use in worrying," Grace said.

"So...you'll let me go out on my journey?" Serena asked.

"If I didn't want to, then I wouldn't have packed your things already," Grace replied. "Just do your best. Never give up. And remember; you can do this. There's nothing to fear but fear itself."

"I'll make you proud, Mom!" Serena exclaimed.

"That's my girl!" Grace smiled.

Serena rushed out to Marisso, who was riding on top of Rhyhorn's head. Rhyhorn looked up, causing Marisso to roll off his head and onto the ground, and roared at Serena.

"Looks like Rhyhorn wants to give you a good sendoff," Grace chuckled.

Serena giggled as she knelt down and petted Rhyhorn on the head.

"Thanks Rhyhorn," Serena said, making the Ground-type grunt happily.

"Now, remember, always keep in contact; and contact me whenever you reach a new town," Grace said.

"Will do Mom," Serena said, before picking up Marisso and rushing off.

"Good luck Serena!" Grace yelled. "And remember!"

"Go for broke!" Serena called back. "Bye Mom!"

As Serena raced to the Vaniville Gate, she saw Shauna waiting up for her there, carrying her fennekin, Kinniekins, in her arms.

"Ready?" Shauna asked.

"Uh huh!" Serena nodded enthusiastically.

Grinning madly, the two girls rushed through the gate and sprinted through Route 1. Grace saw the two off, a whimsical smile on her face.

"Do your best, Serena," Grace said to herself. "Your dad and I will be proud of you, no matter what."

* * *

"You're pretty good."

Froakie looked up from his meal to see Calem addressing him. He and his trainer were currently at the Santalune City pokécenter, having reached there by twilight and deciding to rest there for the time being.

"You were able to go through the entire forest unscathed," Calem commented. "You even managed to learn a few new moves."

"-Thanks,-" Froakie responded with a croak, despite knowing that Calem couldn't understand him.

Froakie glanced at Blaziken's pearly red pokéball, and pointed to it curiously.

"-Why isn't he out to eat?-" Froakie asked.

"Hm?" Calem muttered, before noticing Froakie pointing to Blaziken's Cherish Ball. "If you're worried about Blaziken, then no need. He's trained enough to be able to go a while without any food. He'll let me know if he needs any food."

Froakie stared at Blaziken's pokéball curiously, before shrugging it off. Blaziken was a vehemently powerful Pokémon after all; being able to go a few more hours without food would be a trivial tasked.

As Froakie continued to eat, Calem reached for his bag, before taking out a laptop and opening it up. From there, he began to type a few things, gaining his frog's attention once more.

"Hm? Don't worry about it," Calem commented as he had his eyes glued to the screen.

Froakie decided to listen to Calem, and instead decided to focus on Calem's strange bracelet with the peculiarly interesting stone in it.

The stone was strange; it had a rather hypnotizing luster in it. Froakie wondered what the stone was, and what purpose it had. He remembered Calem using it to track down two other stones.

What were they called? Heracronite and Pinsirite? He never knew that a heracross and a pinsir had stones named after them. Was there a stone named after his species, perhaps? A 'Greninjanite', since he would eventually evolve into a greninja?

What were the purpose of all these stones? According to Calem's ramblings during the forest, he was searching for other stones; like that 'Scizorite' he muttered was located near here; which could only mean that the stone is specifically for the scizor line. Just how many more stones were there? What was Calem collecting them for anyways?

...It's no use. Froakie couldn't wrap his mind around it. He figured he would get answers eventually by being with Calem. For now, he would just focus on getting stronger; to reach the demonic levels of Blaziken.

"? Is everything alright?" Calem asked, noticing Froakie's pondering face.

Froakie looked up, before shaking his head. Calem glanced at Froakie, before dismissing it. Calem finished his sandwich, which was Froakie's cue to finish his meal.

"C'mon," Calem said to Froakie as he got up, closed his laptop and put it back into his bag. "We're heading out."

"-To where?-" Froakie asked.

Calem glanced through the window, looking to the east side of town.

"Route 22," Calem said. "The signal's located there."

Froakie glanced up at Calem curiously. The boy had an unreadable expression; something that slightly irritated Froakie, since it meant that he couldn't figure out what his master was thinking of. As the two headed out, the windows rumbled slightly for a moment, before settling down.

Calem exited the pokécenter, before glancing towards the east, noticing a figure flying into the twilight. Staring at the direction for a moment, Calem walked towards Route 22, Froakie jumping onto his shoulder as he left.

* * *

"Corphish, Crabhammer!"

A reddish crustacean-like Pokémon reeled his claw up, making it glow bright blue, before smashing it towards a fletchling, who avoided it, leaving Corphish to smash his pincer into the ground, causing a massive indent into it.

Serena and Shauna had regrouped with Tierno and Trevor at Route 2, a half an hour before nightfall, and made their way to the Santalune Forest. Tierno had asked if either of them knew how to catch a Pokémon. Unsurprisingly, the two girls were clueless on capturing Pokémon, prompting Tierno to give them a demonstration.

At the same time, a fletchling emerged from the grass, soaring through the air gracefully, catching the gang's attention. Seeing the fletchling's beautiful dance in the air with awe, Tierno decided that the small bird would make for a great addition to his future dance team; a Pokémon capable of such a majestic dance in the skies. It would also double as a demonstration of how to catch a Pokémon. It was killing two fletchlings with one rock. Well, at least catching this one instead of killing it.

"Wow, Tierno, your corphish packs quite the punch," Shauna commented as Kinniekins watched eagerly.

"That's because Tierno's Corphish's ability is 'Adaptability'," Trevor explained from the side. "It amplifies the user's STAB to frightening levels, raising it from a 1.5 boost to double."

"Uh...what does 'STAB' mean?" Serena asked as she held Marisso.

"'Same Type Attack Bonus'," Trevor went on as Corphish shot a stream of bubbles at Fletchling. "When a Pokémon uses an attacking move that shares the same type as it, like Corphish using Crabhammer, the move gets a 1.5 boost in power. Adaptability further enhances the STAB boost to times two."

"As expected from you Trevs," Tierno commented. "Although I'd like it you didn't take their attention from the demonstration."

"Ah! Sorry," Trevor quickly apologized.

"We're sorry..." Serena and Shauna mumbled.

"It's alright," Tierno said. "Corphish, Knock Off!"

As Fletchling went for a dive attack, Corphish readied his pincer and smacked down upon Fletchling, making the bird bounce off the ground it was smashed into.

"Now, Crabhammer!"

Corphish's pincer glowed blue once more as Fletchling was disorientated from the Knock Off, and smashed the attack into the bird, sending it crashing into a nearby tree.

"Like that, you weaken the Pokémon you want to capture," Tierno explained while taking out a pokéball. "And at the right moment, you throw a pokéball at it. Like this!"

Tierno hurled the pokéball in his hand at the bird. It hit Fletchling, opened up, and shot a red beam at the bird, sucking the Pokémon into it in a stream of energy before closing up and trapping it in there, while falling to the ground.

"And now I pray," Tierno said.

"Pray?" Shauna asked, bewildered.

The ball shook three times, before it flashed briefly, signaling that Fletchling had been captured.

"There we go," Tierno said. "And that's how you catch a Pokémon."

"Amazing," Serena commented.

"Wait, why did he need to pray?" Shauna was still bugged about his last phrase.

"Here," Tierno said, handing the girls each ten pokéballs. "These are some pokéballs you two can use to catch a Pokémon for yourselves."

"Wow, really?" Shauna asked. "You sure about giving us this many?"

"It's alright," Tierno smiled.

"So, why did you decide to capture that fletchling?" Serena asked, somewhat disapprovingly, considering her rather 'negative' view on the bird due to one particular fletchling she knew.

"Did you SEE how that fletchling soared through the air in such a mystifying dance?!" Tierno suddenly yelled, causing the two girls to jump in surprise. "The grace it had when soaring through the air like a hot knife through butter was exquisite! I just HAD to add it to my team!"

"I see..." Serena said.

"Well since you're done gawking over that," Shauna said. "We should get going."

"Yeah..." Serena muttered shakily. "Let's just go already."

Serena looked around. The vast forest was home to several kinds of Bug-type Pokémon. Ranging from caterpie to weedle to the native scatterbug, they made up the majority of the forest's population. That alone made her shudder furiously. She was able to keep her calm by distracting herself with Tierno's demonstration, but with that coming to an end, she had no distractions to sway her attention from the bug-infested forest.

"-Are you okay?-" Marisso asked.

"Right, you didn't like this place," Shauna said. "You were pretty afraid of bugs."

"C-Can we just please go already?" Serena stuttered.

"Don't worry, Seré!" Shauna assured her. "We'll protect you! Kinniekins here will make quick work of those pesky Bug-types!"

"-Well, it shouldn't be too much of a problem,-" Kinniekins replied.

"-Hey I can protect her too!-" Marisso puffed his cheeks, offended that they seemingly thought that he couldn't protect his own trainer.

"I-I guess..." Serena muttered.

"Although we should move quickly," Trevor advised.

"Huh? Why's that?" Shauna asked.

"Well I mean, since Serena doesn't like Bug-types, then we shouldn't be sticking around here for long," Trevor explained. "I mean, sure there're first-stage Bug-types like weedle, caterpie, and scatterbug, but then again that can be said about their final-stage evolutions; most likely protecting their young."

"Their...final...stage...?" Serena asked, starting to pale.

"Well there're the beedrills, a specie you and Shauna are well aware of," Trevor began to go on. "They're extremely territorial and respond viciously to those who disturb their colonies, much like how you and Shauna did earlier today; which would be very bad since they're very fast and highly aggressive. Most likely they'll attack anyone who disturbs their colonies with their large venomous stingers on their forelegs and abdomen, and they're said to take the victims of their attacks back to its nest for food."

"Uh...Trevs..." Shauna tried to interrupt, noticing Serena steadily paling.

"Oh and there are also the butterfrees," Trevor went on, failing to hear Shauna. "...Which have poisonous powders covering their wings that fall off continuously as they fly, meaning that they'll cover anything under its flight path with said poisonous powder; even worse since they tend to travel up to six miles from its nest to gather honey so it has a wide range to release its powders."

"Trevs, I think you should stop–," Tierno said, realizing that Serena was completely pale.

"And then there're the vivillons," Trevor went on oblivious to Serena. "While they're passive in nature, they will respond aggressively like beedrills should their nests be disturbed or under attack. They're capable of boosting their offense with Quiver Dance, which makes their Hurricane attacks all the more devastating; combined with their innate ability, 'Compound Eyes', which increases the accuracy of their moves; surely we wouldn't stand a chance should they decide to attack us. Which is why we should move as quickly as–."

"TREVOR!" Shauna yelled.

"Huh?" Trevor asked, before finally registering Serena, who was now completely consumed with her entomophobia. "O–Oh..."

Unable to contain her fear, Serena screamed as she suddenly bulleted down the guided path, sprinting to the nearest exit and out of the dreaded forest, leaving the others in her dust.

"-Serena wait!-" Marisso yelled as he curled up into a ball and rolled after her in an impressive speed.

Shauna gave Trevor an angry glare before smacking him on his head.

"Way to go, genius!" Shauna growled. "You fueled Seré's phobias!"

"B-But I didn't mean to–!" Trevor stammered.

"Oh, whatever!" Shauna dismissed angrily, scooping Kinniekins in her arms and running after Serena. "Seré wait!"

"...Ya know you could've just said that it was getting dark," Tierno pointed out.

"I-I guess..." Trevor said, ashamed.

"Well...on the bright side, they know how to catch Pokémon, at least," Tierno laughed awkwardly. "And Marisso knows how to use Rollout, so...I guess that's a positive."

"But I–"

"Let's just go Trevs."

* * *

Meanwhile, at Route 22, Calem and Froakie were exploring the eerily vacant route; usually full of young trainers and roller-skaters.

"-This place is empty...-" Froakie muttered, somewhat unnerved by the emptiness of the route.

Calem said nothing, focused more on the task at hand. He lifted up his bracelet, where the stone began to glow slightly.

"So it's here," Calem said to himself as he looked around, continuing to survey the area.

Froakie jumped off Calem's shoulder and landed on the ground, surveying the area as well. Even the wildlife in this route weren't present, unnerving him even more.

Suddenly some tall grass began to shake, startling the frog and shifting him into a fighting stance. At the same time, the stone on Calem's bracelet began to shine brilliantly as well. Calem quickly noticed it, and got ready for whatever would assault them from the grass.

From the grass, a bipedal, primarily green insectoid creature shot out from it and lunged for Froakie, who jumped out of the way. The creature landed, brandishing its blade-like forearms, sporting a murderous glare. Around its neck was a necklace with a strange red and black stone hanging from it. Simultaneously, Calem's bracelet stone began to glow violently.

"Bingo," Calem smirked. "We found our target."

"-The hell do you guys want?-" the creature asked menacingly. "-LEAVE! This place isn't safe for weaklings like yourselves!-"

Something snapped in Froakie as he glared at the creature menacingly. Amused, Calem decided to scan the Pokémon with his pokédex.

"Scyther, the mantis Pokémon," it read. "It slashes through grass with its sharp scythes, moving too fast for the human eye to track."

Noticing Froakie's enraged expression, Calem smirked in amusement.

"Oh? This outta be interesting," Calem commented. "I'm guessing you want to fight."

Froakie nodded as he glared at Scyther. Scyther leered down upon the frog, before taking a fighting stance, and then proceeding to lunge at Froakie. Froakie jumped, avoiding the attack and shot a stream of bubbles at Scyther. Scyther treated the attack with some annoyance, before lunging for Froakie.

"Duck, then ram into his legs," Calem commanded.

Froakie did as commanded, ducking to avoid a horizontal slash, before ramming into Scyther's leg, causing the mantis to trip and fall. As the mantis got up, Froakie jumped over him and began to fall onto him. Having none of that, Scyther rolled out of the way and slammed one of his blades at the frog as he fell, sending him into the fence that surrounded the route.

"Roll to the side, then grab his head."

Froakie rolled to the side like commanded, as he yet again avoided a slash that bisected a part of the fence, before lunging and grabbing his head.

"Bubble."

Froakie then sprayed bubbles at Scyther's head, while keeping onto it.

"-Gah! Get off me!-" Scyther snarled as he tried to get the frog off of him.

To no avail, Scyther couldn't pry him off, so he decided to ram his head, and Froakie, into the fence.

"-Gueh...!-" Froakie gagged as he fell off.

Unable to move, Scyther lifted his blade up high, ready to slice the frog in half. Calem was about to send out Blaziken to save him, but something else bulleted past him and beat him to the punch. As Scyther brought his blade down, it was caught between two spiky pincers.

"-The hell?-" Scyther muttered.

Protecting Froakie out of nowhere was a bipedal beetle-like Pokémon with a wide, dull brown body and a large pair of gray, spiky pincers on top of its head.

"A pinsir...?" Calem muttered to himself.

"You there! What do you think you're doing?!"

Everyone glanced to the direction of the new voice to see a new person; a woman with short, round blonde hair wearing a white blouse, green pants with white cuffs, brown boots with green laces and a green bracelet, carrying a camera with the strap around her neck.

Calem recognized this woman. The Santalune City Gym Leader, Viola. A Bug-type expert, and a professional photographer.

"This place was under evacuation!" Viola yelled angrily as she approached Calem. "No one is supposed to be in here!"

Calem narrowed his eyes at the woman, before glancing back at the pinsir.

"Is this pinsir yours?" Calem asked.

"Yes, and if it wasn't for her, then your froakie would've been a goner," she said sternly.

Calem stared at the pinsir that had stopped Scyther, before scanning her with the pokédex.

"Pinsir, the stag beetle Pokémon," it read. "It swings its long antlers wildly to attack. During cold periods, it hides deep in forests."

"Hm...This one looks quite strong..." Calem mumbled to himself. "Perhaps..."

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Viola asked.

"Sorry about that ma'am," Calem said. "If I may ask, why is this place closed off?"

"There's been a recent attack of a savage wild Pokémon, seemingly from Victory Road," she explained. "So I evacuated everyone and came to investigate myself."

"Is that so..." Calem said as he looked up to the sky.

That would explain why the town, and this route, was so barren.

"Anyways, you need to get out of here," Viola said. "That Pokémon could come back any moment now. And looking at your battle with that scyther, you should better get out of here."

"Nonsense, I can handle myself," Calem scoffed.

"Oh sure," Viola rolled her eyes. "Drop the tough boy act. We both know you aren't gonna last much longer."

...What?

"Are you implying that I'm weak?" Calem asked darkly.

"Well, you couldn't do much to that scyther with your froakie," Viola commented. "So I doubt you can do much to a wild Pokémon from Victory Road."

Calem's eyes grew dark, something in him snapped in anger.

"Is that so..." Calem repeated with increasing venom.

Calem took out the Cherish Ball and released Blaziken, who landed onto the ground. Viola and the two bugs looked surprised at the fire titan in front of them.

"Very well then!" Calem growled. "Then I'll take down this savage Pokémon!"

"-Ah, I see,-" Froakie muttered. "-He's pretty prideful.-"

"O-Okay there, no need to get so worked up..." Viola said uneasily, somewhat startled by his sudden spark of anger.

Blaziken suddenly looked up to the sky, and took a fighting stance.

"? Is it an enemy?" Calem asked, noticing Blaziken's sudden shift.

They all looked up to the sky, as something dove down towards their position.

* * *

Serena was panting as the group reached Santalune City.

"We...we made it to the next city..." Serena gasped for air.

"Geez, Seré, why d'you have to run that fast...?" Shauna asked.

"I'm sorry..." Serena mumbled.

"No, I should be the one apologizing," Trevor sighed. "I shouldn't have instigated your entomophobia."

"It's alright, you didn't do it on purpose..." Serena said weakly.

"So where are we?" Shauna asked.

"We reached Santalune City," Tierno replied. "We should definitely rest here."

"Yeah," Shauna said as she looked up towards the sky that was growing darker. "It's almost becoming nightfall."

Relieved that they were going to get some rest, Marisso fell on his bottom, gasping for breath.

"I'm sorry, Marisso," Serena mumbled to her Grass-type.

"-It's alright...-" Marisso said weakly.

"For now, let's just get to the pokécenter," Tierno suggested. "It's almost getting dark, anyways."

"Agreed," Trevor said. "Although..."

Trevor looked around. The town seemed to be rather vacant, even though it's not even that dark. All the houses seemed to be closed; not even a single person could be seen.

"Strange," Trevor said. "Santalune City is a relatively active place. Not as much as Lumiose, but it's still a fairly active town. Finding it this deserted, at a relative time like this is strange."

"True..." Tierno agreed. "For now, let's just head to the pokécenter. Maybe we can find some information there."

The group started for the pokécenter, but a huge explosion rang through the town, stopping them.

"What was that?!" Shauna gasped.

"!? Over there!" Trevor pointed to the east of town, where a trail of smoke rose into the distance.

"What the...? That's Route 22," Tierno said.

"What could've happened...?" Serena wondered timidly.

"...Should we check it out?" Tierno asked.

"While it's hardly the best idea, it would definitely give us some answers to this town's ghost status," Trevor pointed out.

"Wait, we're going there?!" Serena yelped.

"I'm in!" Shauna declared excitedly. "That's definitely got something interesting written all over it!"

"Shauna!" Serena whined.

"Don't worry, Seré," Shauna assured her friend. "We'll just take a look and see. If it gets too dangerous, then we'll high-tail it out of there, okay? We'll even look from afar."

"I-I guess that's...fine then..." Serena reluctantly agreed.

* * *

With everyone in an agreement, they all raced for Route 22 to see what that explosion was about, where they reached said destination within a few minutes. Exiting the gate, they all cautiously entered the route, Tierno scanning the area to see any anomaly.

"Nothing out of the ordinary so far..." Tierno said, before his eyes caught a glimpse of someone. "Wait, look!"

Tierno pointed forward, where everyone else followed the direction to see a familiar blue-cladded trainer with his frog on his shoulder, and his Fire-type bipedal avian Pokémon, accompanied by an unfamiliar woman and her stag beetle Pokémon.

"Calem?!" Serena gasped.

The boy whirled his head behind him, shocked to see the four rookie trainers here. He was about to say something, until he sensed the enemy coming.

"DUCK!" Calem yelled.

"Huh–?" Serena asked, stopping as Shauna suddenly grabbed her and pulled her to the ground, narrowly avoiding an azure laser that was shot at their direction. "W-What...?"

They all looked up to see a large, three-headed, draconic Pokémon with six thin black wings on its back, stalking over the route with a predacious gleam in its eyes. It was adorned with several scars all over its body.

"W-W-W-What is th-that...?!" Serena paled, shaking uncontrollably.

"A hydreigon?!" Trevor gasped, scanning the monster with his pokédex.

"Hydreigon, the brutal Pokémon," it read. "The heads on their arms do not have brains. They use all three heads to consume and destroy everything."

"But those are only found in Victory Road! What's it doing here?" Trevor asked.

Before anyone could make a response, a scythe lunged out from the bushes and attacked Hydreigon, trying to cleave the main head.

"-You!-" the hydreigon snarled. "-I've had enough of your meddling bullshit!-"

Hydreigon grabbed Scyther by the blade, and hurled him back to the ground.

"Intercept him!" Calem commanded.

As Hydreigon charged up fire into its mouth, Blaziken charged at the beast with a roundhouse kick, sending it back and allowing for Scyther to recover.

"-Don't charge in recklessly,-" Blaziken chastised Scyther. "-It's obviously strong enough to withstand getting cleaved by your attack.-"

"-Tch! I already know that!-" Scyther hissed back as he got up.

The two jumped back as Hydreigon charged at them with a snarl, lunging at them to sink its fangs into them. Blaziken parried its attack and jumped back, while Scyther met the fangs with his blade.

"-This is the end of this stupid feud!-" Scyther growled. "-We settle this here and now!-"

"-I couldn't agree more!-" Hydreigon hissed back as he hurled Scyther to the ground and spewed fire at him.

Scyther disappeared before the fires could consume the mantis, and suddenly reappeared above Hydreigon and dropped down for a vertical slice on its back. Hissing in pain, Hydreigon faced Scyther, but was shot from behind by Blaziken's Flamethrower, scorching it heavily. Blue sparks coursed all over Blaziken's body, as the Fire-type slammed the ground, creating a jagged stone to shield him from Hydreigon's Flamethrower.

"It would seem that this hydreigon and that scyther have a grudge," Calem explained to the rookies as Blaziken and Scyther were fighting Hydreigon. "The dragon came down from its usual habitat just to challenge the mantis."

"And due to the massive destruction they cause, we had to close off the route, and everyone is to head back to their homes and not leave at night," the woman explained. "Speaking of which, what are you four doing here?"

"We saw an explosion, and decided to check it out," Tierno explained cautiously. "We weren't aware of the current situation at hand."

"...You four all look like new faces, so I can't blame you for not knowing," the woman said. "Either way, you all have to leave now. It's too dangerous."

"R-Right," Trevor said. "C'mon, let's leave this to them and–."

A horrible screech emanated through the route, piercing everyone's ears. The hydreigon, now agitated, blasted both Blaziken and Scyther with Dragon Pulses from the two sub heads, and proceeded to blast the group with a Dragon Pulse, separating them in one explosion.

"Agh!" Serena yelped, crashing to the side with Marisso.

"Serena!" Shauna shrieked.

Serena looked up, realizing that the explosion had separated her from her friends, and looked up to see the hydreigon, eyes locked onto her.

"-I've had it to HERE with all you nuisances getting in my way!-" Hydreigon roared. "-I'll kill all of you if you continue this shit!-"

Hydreigon charged at Serena and Marisso, swatting Scyther and Blaziken as they tried to get in the way.

"-STARTING WITH YOU!-" Hydreigon snarled.

As Serena screamed in fear, Marisso shot several Pin Missiles in hope of stopping the dragon. To his horror, Hydreigon shrugged off the Pin Missiles and continued to charge at them.

"SERENA!" Shauna cried.

Before anyone could react, Calem suddenly sprinted for the girl, scooping her and Marisso up in his arms and rolling out of the way of the dragon.

"BLAZIKEN!" Calem growled.

As Hydreigon flew back into the air, Blaziken was already above him, his foot ready for a heel drop with a Stone Edge prepped and accompanied by it. Blaziken brought down his foot and the Stone Edge down upon Hydreigon, smashing its head and slamming it to the ground. Serena looked up to see Calem, who had just saved her from death by dragon.

"C-Calem..." Serena couldn't find the proper words due to her shock at the whole situation.

"You idiot," Calem scolded harshly. "You're in the middle of a battle between savage Pokémon; one whom has no qualms in killing off any outsiders."

"I-I..." Serena mumbled, looking ready to cry again.

"...However...your chespin was brave to try and defend you," Calem commented. "And I can't truly blame you for stiffening in fear. You are new to this, so demanding you to steel up is foolish of me."

"Eh...?" Serena asked, surprised at the kinder tone.

"I'm just glad you're alright," Calem muttered. "I won't allow any needless deaths on my watch."

"Calem..."

Shifting his attention back to the battle, Hydreigon was slowly getting back up.

"-Stupid...pieces of shit...-" Hydreigon hissed. "-All of you...getting in my way...-"

"Tch, he's still not done," Calem grumbled. "Viola!"

"Don't leave me out of this!" Viola yelled. "Pinsir, Quick Attack! Smash it back to the ground!"

Pinsir bulleted towards the recovering hydreigon at a blinding speed, tackling the dragon. As it flinched from the attack, Pinsir got close to the dragon's belly, ensnaring its body between her two large pincers, before hurling it into a brutal German suplex. Pinsir jumped back, as Scyther lunged at Hydreigon, slashing it with an X-Scissor, leaving a nasty X-shaped scar on its chest. Hydreigon coughed up bile, as it struggled to get back up. As it got back up, it shot a spiteful glare at Scyther, who charged at him. Hydreigon shot two Dragon Pulses at the mantis, making him jump over them to avoid it, only to be left wide open for Hydreigon to launch a nasty Flamethrower at the bug, scorching it.

Scyther screamed in pain as he fell, scorched by the fire as Hydreigon got back up. As Scyther tried to recover, Hydreigon used its two sub heads to grab Scyther's arms, lifting the bug up. The mantis had a look of fear as Hydreigon reeled its jaw towards his head.

"-Now die!-" Hydreigon snarled as he was about to rip Scyther's head off and eat it.

Before it could do so, Blaziken intervened, getting in between them, and smashed his fist into its gut. Hydreigon gagged in pain, releasing Scyther from its grip, before Blaziken grabbed ahold of the dragon by the neck, releasing intense heat from his claw and burning the dragon.

"Brave Bird," Calem commanded chillingly.

Blaziken surged himself with a fiery aura, as two wings of fire formed from behind. Blaziken then skyrocketed up into the sky, carrying Hydreigon with him, before hurling the dragon back to the ground.

"We're finished here," Calem growled. "High Jump Kick!"

Blaziken reeled his foot and went in for a dive kick, falling in like a meteor towards Hydreigon, who was still flying back to the ground. Hydreigon crashed into the ground, bouncing off of it due to the collision, only to get smashed in the gut by Blaziken's High Jump Kick, slamming it into the ground and causing another explosion of dust. Everyone had to shield themselves from the explosion, as dust blanketed the route. Once it cleared, Blaziken was left standing above Hydreigon, who was unconscious from the attack.

* * *

"Wow..." Tierno could only gape at the destruction Blaziken caused. "So that's what you meant when you were describing his blaziken Shauna..."

"Yeah...that thing is a monster..." Shauna could only say, equally dumbfound at Blaziken.

Trevor could only nod dumbly. Serena, on the other hand was still getting her thoughts in check. She almost died, had it not been for Calem saving her. Again. This was the second time she had faced death; on the same day, no less. And this was the second time she was saved by Calem and his powerful Blaziken. The poor girl couldn't even find the strength in her legs to get back up.

"Seré?" Shauna asked, holding out a hand. "Are you alright?"

Serena glanced to her friend, before accepting the hand and getting back up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Serena assured Shauna.

"Now then," Calem said, glancing to the hydreigon. "What to do with you..."

"-Way ahead of you,-" Scyther growled as he stepped forward, preparing his scythe blade.

"-Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you trying to kill him?!-" Pinsir freaked out, getting in his way.

"-No, I'm gonna give him a hug,-" Scyther shot back sarcastically. "-Yes I'm gonna kill him! This fucker's been terrorizing the area! And more importantly, he's been pissing me off!-"

"-Well yeah he was terrorizing the place, but isn't killing him a bit too extreme...?-" Pinsir asked.

"-Killing him will make sure that he won't terrorize shit anymore!-" Scyther growled. "-Now get the hell out of my way!-"

Scyther pushed Pinsir back and headed over to Hydreigon, intent on finishing the dragon off. But before he could even bring his scythe up, however, Blaziken grabbed him by the arm, stopping him.

"-Oh don't tell me you're against this too,-" Scyther hissed.

"I don't think killing off the hydreigon is going to solve anything," Calem intervened. "If anything, killing him off would more than likely attract more into the vicinity; either to take revenge for their fallen comrade, or to find the one who killed him to test their own strength."

"Wait, killing?" Serena asked, the fear in her voice standing out. "We aren't going to kill him...right...?"

"Of course not," Calem shot back. "I'm not exactly cold-hearted."

"Then how do you propose we deal with this hydreigon?" Viola asked. "While I'm certainly against killing a wild Pokémon, this one has proven to be a handful; I highly doubt it'll simply learn from this."

Calem stared at Viola, then at the hydreigon. The boy then took out a pokéball and tossed it at the hydreigon. The ball hit the behemoth, sucking it into it with a red laser. The ball dropped to the ground, shook three times, and flashed briefly, indicating a successful capture. Everyone sans Blaziken just looked at Calem with a dumbstruck face, as the boy casually strolled over and picked up the ball.

"There," Calem said. "That should take care of things."

"Y-You just caught it...?" Serena asked.

"Of course," Calem replied. "If it's under someone's control, then Santalune shouldn't have to worry about it attacking the city again."

While Serena did understand the logic in that, she suddenly paled. Now Calem had another monstrosity under his control! Maybe reaching up to his level was only wishful thinking now...

"You're gonna keep it?" Shauna asked.

Calem glanced at Shauna, then the ball, then strangely towards Froakie.

"No," Calem replied, much to Serena's shock and relief. "I'd rather not have two Dark-types on my team, considering that Fairy-types are rather common in Kalos."

"Two Dark-types?" Shauna asked in confusion.

"He must be referring to Froakie," Trevor informed Shauna. "Froakie's final evolution, Greninja, is a Water/Dark-type."

"Besides, I already have plans for a pseudo-legendary to add," Calem remarked as he put the dragon's pokéball away. "And I know someone who's more suited for the job of taking care of Hydreigon."

"Well...so now what?" Tierno decided to ask. "I mean, with the hydreigon caught, now what?"

Before anyone could say anything, Scyther growled, getting the humans' attention, while pointing his scythe at Calem.

"-You and I still have a battle to continue,-" Scyther growled. "-Now!-"

"-You insolent...-" Blaziken grumbled as he was about to ignite his arm to burn the bug.

"Oh? You want to continue?" Calem asked, an amused smirk making its way onto his face. "Alright then."

Blaziken glanced at Calem, who gestured him to let go of Scyther. Blaziken complied, releasing the mantis from his grip, allowing the Bug-type to get ready. As Froakie was about to get ready to resume their earlier battle, Scyther stopped him.

"-No,-" Scyther said. "-Not you. Him.-"

Scyther pointed to Blaziken.

"-I want to fight him,-" Scyther said.

Froakie looked outraged, while Blaziken merely raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms against his chest.

"-What the–?! We were in the middle of a battle!-" Froakie yelled. "-We still need to–!-"

"Very well," Calem interrupted Froakie. "If that's what you want, then so be it."

"-Wha–?! Calem!?-" Froakie gasped.

"No objections, Froakie," Calem said sternly. "If Scyther wants to fight Blaziken, then so be it."

Froakie looked angry, but sighed dejectedly, before returning to his master's side.

"You're gonna fight it?" Serena asked Calem.

"But of course," Calem said. "I was originally planning to capture him and add him into my team, after all. However..."

Scyther leered at Calem, who leered back with a rather whimsical smile. Everyone else backed away from then, knowing full well that a battle was about to break loose, and they didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

"I have no need for weaklings on my team," Calem scoffed. "So try not to bore me."

Scyther would have been enraged at the human's condescending words, had he had enough time to do so, but at the second Calem finished his sentence, Scyther had to jump out of the way to avoid Blaziken suddenly striking at him from behind. Scyther landed back on his feet, whereas Blaziken charged at the mantis. Scyther tried to slash down Blaziken as he approached, but the Fire-type simply parried the attack as he struck, before bringing his other arm in for a jab at Scyther's jaw. The bug flew back, as Blaziken landed on his feet, blue sparks surrounding him once more.

"Ah...Speed Boost...!" Serena exclaimed, remembering the ability from Blaziken's fight against the horde of beedrills from before.

"-Damn it!-" Scyther hissed as he ran towards Blaziken.

Scyther got right in front of Blaziken and unleahsed a flurry of slashes, all which Blaziken was able to block thanks to his boosted speed. Scyther clicked his tongue, before backing up and jumping towards him while performing a rolling slash. Blaziken raised his arms in defense, shielding himself from the attack. Blaziken then ignited the cuffs on his arms, releasing fire from them and warding Scyther off of him.

"What's the matter?" Calem taunted. "Surely you're better than that?"

Scyther landed back on his feet, angered by Calem's taunting, lunged at Blaziken in a roaring rage. As Blaziken was about to strike, Scyther disappeared, avoiding Blaziken's attack completely.

"He disappeared?" Serena asked.

"Oh, so he's scouting with Aerial Ace," Calem commented. "Blaziken."

The Fire-type nodded, and released a spread of embers that surrounded him. Blaziken closed his eyes, focusing on the embers surrounding him. The sound of a faint singeing registered to Blaziken, as the Fire-type whirled around, parrying Scyther's Aerial Ace as it came from behind. Blaziken noticed how Scyther's face was slightly singed.

"-What?!-" Scyther gasped.

"-Fool,-" Blaziken grumbled as he grabbed Scyther by the head and hurled him over his shoulder.

Scyther was hurled onto the ground, before the mantis hastily flew back to the ground to avoid being stepped on by Blaziken's burning foot. Scyther got back on his feet, panting in exhaustion. It would seem that immediately fighting the Fire-type elite right after dealing with Hydreigon was indeed taxing on him. Blaziken, meanwhile, didn't even have a scratch on him, as he let the Speed Boost accumulate. Hissing in anger, Scyther lunged for Blaziken, furiously slashing at the Fire-type in aggression. Blaziken parried all of Scyther's attacks. Frustrated, Scyther tried to slam his blade at Blaziken, only for him to catch it in his hands.

"-You're too consumed in your own rage,-" Blaziken chastised. "-It's easy to predict you now.-"

"-What did you say!?-" Sycther hissed.

"-Exactly what I said,-" Blaziken retorted. "-You don't know how to control your anger. And that is why you cannot win.-"

Before Scyther could make for a retort, Blaziken threw the mantis over him and onto the ground.

"-Know your place,-" Blaziken growled as he readied his foot.

As the mantis bounced off the ground, Blaziken unleashed a flurry of rapid kicks, hitting the bug so fast, that it kept Scyther in the air. Once the flurry ended, Blaziken smashed his other foot into Scyther, sending the mantis straight through a tree and destroying a part of the fence. The bug was completely out cold as he slid down to the ground. Confirming that Scyther could no longer fight, Calem took out another pokéball and hurled it at Scyther like he did to Hydreigon. The ball hit Scyther, where it proceeded to drag him into it via a red laser, and dropped to the ground. The ball shook three times, before flashing, signaling a successful capture.

* * *

"He caught it...!" Trevor said as Calem went over to pick up Scyther's pokéball.

"And with this, the Scizorite..." Calem muttered to himself, before taking out his pokédex to scan Scyther. "...Adamant...Technician...Quick Attack, Aerial Ace, X-Scissor and Defog...Pretty rare move to have...Not bad..."

"So...now he has that blaziken, Froakie, a hydreigon _and_ a scyther?" Shauna gaped.

"That's...quite the formidable team," Tierno commented.

"No...Like I said before, I'm not keeping the hydreigon," Calem stated. "I know someone else who can take care of it better than me. However...Scyther, I will keep."

"I see..." Serena muttered, slightly shuddering at the mention of the mantis.

Calem glanced down to Serena, who was still on the ground, unable to get back up. The boy then kneeled down and offered her a hand.

"You alright?" Calem asked.

"Huh? Uh...Y-Yeah..." Serena mumbled, accepting the hand and getting back up, where a prolong silence filled the space between them.

"So, how was your first day as a trainer, rookie?" Calem decided to break the ice.

"Huh? Oh, it's...going well..." Serena mumbled, tucking the brim of her hat over her eyes.

"Managed to catch anything?" Calem inquired.

"N-No..." Serena murmured in a dejected tone. "I-I'm sorry..."

Calem studied Serena's expression with a questioning gaze, as the girl did her best to avoid eye contact. Her expression was full of timid nervousness and shame; like she felt ashamed that she 'supposedly' failed to meet his expectations or something. He glanced down to Marisso, who was giving Calem a disapproving glare. Only a day had passed, yet the chespin was already defending his trainer; the two already have a rather impressive bond. The Grass-type having tried (yet futilely) to defend her from Hydreigon was a testament enough.

"Raise your head," Calem said, causing Serena to do so out of confusion. "Look, I don't see why you feel the need to apologize to me."

"B-But..." Serena mumbled timidly.

"You just started out as a trainer today," Calem said in a stern tone. "You shouldn't be worried or ashamed that you couldn't catch anything on the first day. You're starting out after all."

"I-I see..." Serena replied.

"Wow, he's not acting like a jerk..." Shauna whispered to Tierno.

"I guess it's because it's Serena..." Tierno shrugged, not sure how to respond to Shauna.

"If you still wanna become stronger and train," Calem suggested. "Then I suggest you try and challenge a gym."

"Huh? Gym?" Serena asked.

"Santalune City has an official Pokémon Gym," Tierno explained. "Beat the gym leader, and you can get a Pokémon League Gym Badge. Collect all eight of them, and you can challenge the Pokemon League."

"And the gym leader happens to be me," Viola made herself known, offering a hand to Serena. "The name's Viola; Santalune Gym Leader and professional photographer."

"Oh, uh, hello, Ms. Viola," Serena greeted softly, accepting the handshake.

"Were you alright?" Viola asked. "That must've been terrifying for you."

"N-No, I'm alright, thank you..." Serena replied.

"If you're still keen on that rematch," Calem said. "Then training and challenging gyms is a great way to get stronger."

"Stronger..." Serena quietly said, before nodding. "...Yeah, that sounds like a nice idea."

"Although, challenging the Santalune Gym with only Chespin isn't the best idea," Calem said.

"Huh? Why's that?" Shauna asked.

"Well, each gym specializes in a specific type," Trevor explained. "And Santalune's gym focuses on Bug-types."

Serena visibly stiffened at the mention of 'Bug-types', something Calem noted.

"And you only have Marisso," Tierno mentioned. "A Grass-type like him is weak to Bug-types."

Marisso shifted uncomfortably, looking somewhat guilty.

"So if anything, bringing something that can deal with Bug-types would be recommended," Trevor said. "Like Tierno's Fletchling, or Shauna's Kinniekins."

"So a Fire-type or Flying-type," Serena said. "Got it."

"It's already dark, though," Calem pointed out, looking up to the darkened skies. "So if you plan to catch something, then I suggest that you do it tomorrow."

"Yeah, you have a point," Serena agreed. "Alright."

With that, Calem headed back to the city, with everyone else in tow. As Calem headed through the gate, Viola went up to him.

"Hey, nice work out there," Viola said. "On behalf of Santalune City, I'd like to thank you for dealing with that giant pest."

Calem simply nodded in response.

"You mind if I take a picture?" Viola asked, holding up her camera enthusiastically.

"...I'd rather you not," Calem muttered in a somewhat sour tone. "It's...personal..."

Viola noted the sour tone in Calem's request, and decided against taking a picture. He must really not like being caught on camera.

"Alright then," Viola said, respecting Calem's request.

"Thank you," Calem nodded as he left.

* * *

Back at the pokécenter, the group decided to stay for the night, with Tierno and Trevor taking one room, while Shauna and Serena took another room.

"So, Seré," Shauna asked. "What kind of Pokémon are you gonna try and catch?"

"I don't know," Serena said. "Maybe something cute...hopefully something that can help me against a...Bug-type..."

The honey blonde girl couldn't help but shudder at the mere thought of a Bug-type.

"I'm sure you can get something neat," Shauna encouraged her friend.

"I hope so..." Serena mumbled.

"C'mon, it's getting late," Shauna advised as she crashed onto her bed. "Let's turn in for the night."

"Right," Serena replied, noticing the time being very late. "Goodnight Shauna."

"Night, Seré~," Shauna yawned as she drifted into a deep sleep.

Now by herself, Serena returned to her bed, releasing Marisso onto the bed.

"Are you alright, Marisso?" Serena asked, petting the Grass-type on his head. "Today was one heck of a day, huh."

"-Yeah,-" Marisso smiled.

"Sorry we couldn't get in much training today though..." Serena mumbled apologetically. "If only I wasn't afraid of Bug-types..."

"-No no no! It's not your fault!-" Marisso shook his head vigorously. "-If anything, it was that strange coconut-headed boy's fault for scaring you.-"

"But tomorrow we're gonna go catch our very first Pokémon!" Serena declared. "Let's do our best!"

"-Uh huh!-" Marisso squealed, pumping his fist encouragingly.

Looking forward to the next day, Serena recalled Marisso to let him go to sleep, while the girl reclined into her own bed. Just what kind of Pokémon should she go for? A Fire-type like what Trevor suggested? She didn't recall seeing any Fire-types around here though. And while there were bountiful fletchlings, Serena would rather avoid those, considering her rather bitter opinion of those due to a certain fletchling back home. What else was there to get?

"...Maybe backtracking and actually looking through the last route might help," Serena mumbled before falling asleep, preparing for tomorrow.

* * *

" _Hm? Hello?"_

"Sycamore, it's me," Calem replied on his line of the PC.

" _Oh, Calem!"_ the man on the other line exclaimed rather jovially. _"I was expecting to hear from you sooner."_

"Some complications came in the way," Calem explained.

" _Is that so,"_ Sycamore hummed. _"For something to actually delay you...it must have been something formidable."_

"About that," Calem said, showing Hydreigon's pokéball. "I'm giving this to you."

" _Hm?"_ Sycamore mumbled as Calem placed the ball onto the platform, where the PC scanned it, before the ball disappeared. _"A hydreigon...! Did you already infiltrate Victory Road?"_

"No, a stray happened to enter the area," Calem explained. "I subdued it and captured it."

" _Hm...A hydreigon roaming into Route 22...that's a rare occurrence,"_ Sycamore commented. _"But wouldn't you want to keep this hydreigon? You and I both know that hydreigons are powerful pseudo-legendary Pokémon, even in spite of its massive Fairy-type weakness."_

"It would compound the Dark-typing in my team," Calem shrugged. "And I'm planning on getting another pseudo-legendary."

" _Compound the Dark-typing?"_

In response, Calem released Froakie to show to the Professor.

" _So you chose Froakie!"_ Sycamore exclaimed. _"An excellent choice! And? Who chose the other two?"_

"Fennekin was chosen by Shauna Lumina," Calem explained. "While Chespin was chosen by Serena Yvonne."

" _I see..."_ Sycamore contemplated. _"So how are the new dex wielders?"_

"Average at best," Calem assessed. "Those two together struggled against Froakie. Although..."

" _Although...?"_ Sycamore asked.

"...The girl...Serena..." Calem muttered. "...She has potential."

" _Oh? Is someone interested in a fair lady?"_ Sycamore asked teasingly.

Calem simply gave the older man a disbelieving and venomous glare at the accusation.

" _Kidding, kidding,"_ Syamore laughed, holding up his hands. _"So how long until you reach here?"_

"Approximately two days at most," Calem reported.

" _Alright,"_ Sycamore nodded. _"I'll see you then."_

Nodding in response, Calem hung up the connection. Froakie glanced up to Calem, wondering about the newest additions to the team. Calem glanced down to the frog, who was pointing to the pokéball clipped onto his belt.

"If you're curious, only Scyther's joining the team," Calem read his expression, leading to the frog looking confused. "The hydreigon is going to be under the professor's care. Now c'mon, let's go find a room for the night."

Froakie looked slightly shocked, and now concerned as he followed Calem upstairs. From his rather brief memories of the professor, he was a rather jovial, friendly and passive person. Could such a person really handle something as violent as a hydreigon?

Calem noticed the frog's expression. Clearly the frog was concerned of Sycamore's well-being. Understandable, since Calem had just sent a brutal three-headed dragon that was clearly bloodthirsty over to him for the man to deal with.

Calem simply snorted in amusement. The poor dragon stood no chance.

* * *

Hydreigon found himself being freed from his pokéball, and in a completely unfamiliar setting. A laboratory of some sorts, it would seem. He was surprised he could even fit in the place. In front of him was a tall man with wavy black hair and gray eyes, wearing a blue collared shirt and black pants. The man was sporting a rather jovial smile.

"Hello there," the man greeted himself. "Welcome to my laboratory."

Hydreigon casted a confused glance at the man, as he introduced himself.

"I am Augustine Sycamore, the Kalos region's very own Pokémon Professor," he said. "As you know, this world of ours is widely inhabited by Pokémon."

"These mysterious creatures can be found in every corner of our world..." Sycamore went on. "Some run across the plains, others fly through the skies, and others yet swim in deep oceans...We live together with these Pokémon, lending our strength to one another to live and prosper."

The dragon looked confused. What the hell is this person and what the hell is he preaching about?

"With that in mind," Sycamore got to the point. "The boy who had caught you has entrusted your care with me. So I hope you and I can live together, lending our strengths to one another to live and prosper."

Oh so that's how it is. The boy thought he wasn't worthy enough, so he handed him over to this flamboyant meat stick?!

...Oh someone was going to die. Probably this meat jerky in front of him. Even though he did nothing wrong, Hydreigon was pretty angry right now, and someone needed to become an outlet.

Hydreigon let out a savage and blood-curdling roar and lunged at the man. The man, not even looking fazed at all, released a Pokémon that appeared behind the dragon. The Pokémon grabbed Hydreigon by the neck before he could reach the man.

"-The hell?!-" Hydreigon choked.

The dragon glanced behind him, and began to cower in fear of his captor as the captor's sharp red eyes glared at him with a sickeningly sadistic smile.

"Now, now," Sycamore said with a smile. "Let's get along now. I'm sure we can be friends."

It was at this moment Hydreigon knew...he fucked up.

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN:** Now to those of you who are aware of me and are familiar of my previous stories, then you should know that I tend to alter the original plot and upgrade several characters to become formidable forces; like the CoYS/PoYS gym battles. Here, it'll be no difference, and since XY (in my opinion) was underwhelming in terms of plot-relevant battles due to the advent of the crazily buffed EXP share, then you should see what I'm planning to do. Starting off with Professor Sycamore, who easily subdues poor Hydreigon here with a smile. Meanwhile, poor Serena is still stuck in the crossfire still unable to do anything. No worries though, she'll get a new member next chapter, and it's not like she'll stay the damsel in distress forever.

And once again I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out. Hopefully this won't happen again, and I'll get to publishing more much faster.

And just to keep track of who has what:

Serena: Marisso (Chespin)

Calem: Blaziken / Froakie / Scyther

Shauna: Kinniekins (Fennekin)

Tierno: Corphish / Fletchling

Trevor: Flabébé

Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time, and Happy Halloween (even though it's not Halloween yet at the time I publish this)!


	3. First Gym Leader

**Fidelity**

 **Chapter 3: First Gym Leader**

* * *

 **AN:** First off, I hope you all had a nice and cozy Thanksgiving, and I hope you had as much as you can eat! Hopefully you know what to do with all those extra calories.

Well better late than never, I suppose. Sorry this took longer than expected; have to cover for a colleague at work now, who had to leave for...unfortunate reasons, so even less time for me.

And might as well respond to a few reviews while I'm at it:

 **Tony Anderson:** Thanks! I aim to please, and unlike a lot of things, I have some confidence in my skills to write up good battles.

 **flashyhero:** Oh my god that is hilarious! I need to do that now; in fact to those of you who got up here, whenever you get the chance, go back to chapter 2 and go read the last scene with Sycamore while playing his theme in the background. That is hilarious just imagining such a calm theme playing while poor hydreigon gets to regret his life decisions xD.

 **Guest:** Thanks! Sorry for the delay, but hey at least I updated it ^^'

 **AcerVentus672:** Yeah that's still a work in progress, but don't worry, Serena will grow out of her meek shell. It's not gonna be easy though, and I am a bit of a sadist, but definitely. And yeah, Calem is pretty OP in this phase ^^' There's a reason to it though, and don't worry, he's not perfect: he has his flaws, which I'll get to as the story progresses, as will he eventually break out of his loner status.

* * *

After the good night sleep, Serena woke up rather soundly fairly early in the morning, before eating a quick breakfast and venturing out into Route 3 in hopes of catching a new member for her team.

"Alright," Serena said, giving her supplies a quick check. "Plenty of pokéballs...potions and status healing times in case Marisso gets hurt too much...yep! All set!"

Serena released Marisso into the open, letting the Grass-type stretch out his limbs.

"Are you ready Marisso?" Serena asked her partner.

"-I'm ready!-" Marisso replied eagerly, giving her a determined expression.

"Alright! Let's do our best!" Serena declared encouragingly.

"So, what do you plan to catch, Seré?" Shauna asked from behind.

"Hmm...I'm not exactly sure," Serena mumbled. "Trevor, do you know what's in this Route?"

"Route 3, right...?" Trevor asked, taking out his pokédex and looking through the route. "...Let's see here...there're common Pokémon like pidgies, fletchlings and bidoofs..."

"There're also some rare ones like pikachus and dunsparces," Trevor informed her.

"A pikachu?" Shauna asked. "Oh my gosh Seré! You HAVE to catch one! They're just SOO CUTE!"

"Hm...Maybe..." Serena contemplated.

"Hm...Maybe I should catch one myself," Trevor mumbled under his breath.

"Well, just go explore," Tierno suggested. "There's bound to be something that'll catch your eye, Seré."

"Right," Serena said. "Let's see..."

Serena and Marisso ventured into the grass, the Grass-type always on guard in case something suddenly jumped out to assault Serena.

"Let's see..." Serena looked around the tall grass. "What's here to get...?"

As soon as she said that, the grass began to shake near her, alerting Marisso to get in front of her.

"Oh! What is it?" Serena asked excitedly.

As if to answer her question yet again, something shot out of the grass and landed in front of the pair. The assailant was revealed to be a pidgey, raring for a challenge.

"A pidgey...!" Serena said. "A Flying-type will be really helpful against bugs! Marisso, Vine Whip!"

Marisso, looking determined, lunged forward at the pidgey, extending two vines from its collar and smacking Pidgey with them. The pidgey shrugged the attack off, and whipped up a gust of wind with its wings to attack Marisso. The attack blasted Marisso, pushing him back.

"-Agh!-" Marisso grunted in pain.

"Marisso!" Serena cried in concern.

"Serena, Flying-types are super effective to Grass-types!" Trevor warned her. "And Grass-type attacks don't do much to Flying-types!"

"Really?" Serena asked, facing the boy

"Look out!" Shauna cried.

Serena whipped her attention back to the battle, where Pidgey charged at Marisso.

"Marisso look out!" Serena cried.

The hedgehog got back up, only to get tackled by Pidgey, sending him back further.

"Serena, use Rollout!" Trevor yelled. "It's super effective against Pidgey!"

"R-Right!" Serena stuttered. "Marisso, Rollout!"

Marisso managed to get back on his feet, curled up into a ball, before proceeding to roll into Pidgey, smashing into the bird. The pidgey flew into the air, before releasing another gust of wind at Marisso, managing to blow Marisso off of the course. Marisso landed back in front of Serena.

"Are you alright, Marisso?" Serena asked in concern.

Marisso got back up, nodding while glaring at the pidgey.

"Try shooting him down with Pin Missile!" Serena commanded.

Marisso fired several needles at Pidgey, shooting the bid with the projectiles, and successfully bringing it down.

"Alright, it's weakened," Serena said, before taking out a pokéball. "Go!"

Serena threw a pokéball at Pidgey, hitting the bird with the ball. The bird was sucked into it via a red laser, and the ball landed on the ground, but it quickly burst open, releasing Pidgey back into the open.

"Wha–huh?" Serena asked.

"It's not weakened enough!" Shauna yelled. "You gotta hit it more!"

"R-Right!" Serena replied.

But before she could act, the pidgey decided to run, flying away from them.

"Wha–No, wait!" Serena cried, but the pidgey had long escaped.

The blonde slumped down, sad that her target had escaped. Marisso sighed in defeat as well.

"Darn it..." Serena mumbled. "Are you alright, Marisso?"

Marisso looked back up and tried to nod in response, but winced a little. It would seem that the gust attack did much more than anticipated. Serena saw this too, and quickly got out a potion and sprayed it on his wound.

"I'm sorry, Marisso," Serena mumbled.

Marisso shook his head, trying to relieve Serena of any guilt of the situation at all.

"Now, now," Shauna said in an attempt to cheer her up. "It's just one pidgey. There's bound to be more to catch. Don't give up just yet!"

"R-Right..." Serena said, regaining her confidence. "Yeah! This is only the beginning! Right, Marisso?"

Having his wound healed, Marisso looked up to his trainer sporting a newly confident expression.

"That's the spirit, Seré!" Shauna cheered.

With newfound vigor, Serena and Marisso began to search around some more, searching for new prey to battle and hopefully catch. After several minutes of searching, some more tall grass began to rustle.

"Yes!" Serena cheered quietly as she eagerly waited to see what kind of Pokémon was in it.

The rustling grew more restless, and the Pokémon shot out from it. Serena's enthusiastic expression soon descended into one of fear, as a small larval Pokémon covered in leaves jumped out, hanging itself onto a nearby branch.

"B-bb-Bu-Bu-b-bb-Bu-BUG!" Serena shrieked in fear.

"A burmy!" Tierno exclaimed.

Upset that the bug scared his trainer, Marisso glared at the burmy and shot Pin Missiles at it. The burmy sneered as it projected a green barrier, shielding itself from the attack.

"Burmies do have a tendency to use Protect a lot," Trevor pointed out. "Considering that Protect is one of the few moves it actually gets, and it only has Protect and Tackle in these areas, this is to be expected."

"That's pretty annoying..." Shauna commented.

"C-Can we just go then...?" Serena practically begged.

"I guess that's alright," Tierno said. "I highly doubt catching a burmy will help you anyways."

The burmy seemed to take offense to that, and jumped off the branch and landed elsewhere.

"Well that solves itself," Shauna shrugged.

"Oh...I kinda feel bad now..." Serena mumbled. "I think we hurt its feelings."

"C'mon let's go," Shauna said, urging Serena to move on.

"Well...alright," Serena said. "...Hey, have any of you seen Calem?"

"Calem?" Tierno asked. "I haven't seen him this morning."

"Did he even stay the night at the center?" Shauna asked.

"I saw him at the center last night," Trevor said. "So at the least he was at the center this morning."

"I see..." Serena said.

* * *

Speaking of said boy, Calem happened to be in Route 3 as well, near a pond along with Froakie and Scyther. Froakie glanced at Scyther, who was, to the frog's surprise, patiently waiting for Calem's next order. Perhaps the brutal beat down Blaziken inflicted upon him yesterday taught him to not go against Calem.

"-So...What're we doing?-" Scyther asked.

"-No idea,-" Froakie responded.

"-Weren't you with him longer than me? Shouldn't you understand what he's doing better than me?-"

"-Guy, I joined his team on the same day you got caught.-"

As Froakie and Scyther began to converse with one another while waiting for Calem, the boy was currently looking through the area, surveying the potential wildlife in the area.

"...Hm...No gyarados..." Calem muttered. "A shame...those would've made for great practice against power. Oh well...I guess we'll just stick to the main objective."

"-I guess he's trying to find an opponent for us to fight,-" Froakie said, hearing Calem's low grumbles.

"-Is that so...-" Scyther said as he glanced back to his new trainer.

"You two are fast offensive Pokémon after all," Calem said getting their attention. "I'd like you to have some experience dealing with faster opponents, especially those with priority. The Azumarill line, while only obtainable through breeding, are famous for utilizing 'Aqua Jet' thanks to obtaining STAB on it, in conjunction to their ability 'Huge Power'."

"-Not bad,-" Froakie whistled.

"Experienced trainers tend to search out these marills hoping to obtain this powerful combination," Calem went on. "If they're lucky, they could even get one with more options, such as Superpower, or even Belly Drum."

Calem looked on towards the pond.

"This Route 3 is one of the few available locations to find marills," Calem said. "While the baby azurills live in the grass, marills and azumarills tend to live around this pond."

"-So he wants us to practice against them...is that it?-" Froakie asked.

"-It would seem,-" Scyther said. "-But...if I recall, marills tend to be pretty passive in nature.-"

As if to answer his suspicions, something began to surface from the pond, which turned out to be a group of marills. They all looked at the group with smiling faces.

"-See?-" Scyther said. "-They're harmless. How do we get them to fight us?-"

"Froakie, Water Pulse. Scyther, Aerial Ace," Calem simply ordered.

"-I guess like that,-" Froakie shrugged as he charged an orb of water in his palms and launched it at the group of marills.

The marills frantically scattered, avoiding the Water Pulse, before all the water mice glared at them dangerously. Scyther simply shook his head, before brandishing his blades and disappearing. All the marills began to surround themselves in a torrent of water and bullet towards Froakie. Scyther then reappeared in front of Froakie, swiping his blade and swatting the marills away. The marills landed everywhere, with one sole marill sent flying further from the group than usual.

"-Yo, what do we do about that one?-" Froakie asked, pointing to the one that flew away.

"Ignore it," Calem ordered. "Focus on the rest."

Froakie nodded, as the rest of the marills prepared for another raid of Aqua Jets.

"Dodge them."

Froakie began to jump, avoiding as many marills as he could. Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid them all, as he avoided another marill, only to get attacked from behind by another Aqua Jet marill. As Froakie landed on the ground, he rolled out of the way to avoid another Aqua Jet. Meanwhile Scyther brandished his blades and kept swatting as many marills that kept charging at him. As the marills fell down like flies, Scyther looked around, seeing if anymore were raring to attack him.

Froakie managed to get back up, grunting in mild frustration. The marills got into a group and proceeded to shoot torrents of water at them. Froakie and Scyther easily avoided the attacks and lunged at the marills. As the duo attacked the marills, the group escaped via Aqua Jet, before bombarding them with said attack once more.

"-Goddamn! What is this, some kind of bullet hell?!-" Scyther growled as he defended himself.

"-How the hell should I know?!-" Froakie yelled back as he stopped a marill with Pound.

As the two fended off the horde of bullet marills, Calem simply observed them from his side. It wasn't as if he was truly worried; no, he was hoping for some improvement by subjecting them to the marill horde. If things go south, he could simply have Blaziken clean up.

"Their reaction time is good," Calem commented. "Hopefully this will improve it further...although..."

Calem glanced onto the direction where that one marill flew away to. Marills are rare to find in the grass, so assuming that marill landed there, it would be a rare find on land, and free game to anyone who finds it. But then again, marill is quite strong in comparison to the normal finds in the grass. He had doubts on any starting trainer could be able to catch a marill; especially one with Aqua Jet. If that one marill ended up having Belly Drum, then it could completely decimate any starting trainer that came across it.

...A bulky Grass-type, perhaps, could save them from total decimation.

* * *

...Catching Pokémon was harder than Serena had expected it to be.

It was already noon, and she caught nothing. Everything ended up either breaking out of the pokéball in the middle of capture and escape, or just outright run away from her in general. Trevor even managed to catch a pikachu during her many fails.

"Why the hell did you catch it?!" Shauna reprimanded Trevor. "Seré's supposed to be the one catching things!"

"W-Well...I mean it wanted to fight me..." Trevor mumbled, his flabébé looking somewhat apologetic.

"It's alright, Shauna," Serena said. "At least Trevor caught something."

"C'mon, Shauna," Tierno said, trying to calm the girl down. "No one said that he wasn't allowed to catch anything. And at least Marisso got a lot stronger because of all the battling."

Serena glanced down to Marisso, who, despite being tired, did in fact become much stronger. He also learned a new move...'Leech Seed' was it? That would prove to be quite helpful, doing passive damage to Marisso's opponents and heal him at the same time. At least something good came out of all those failures.

But that still doesn't change the fact that Serena failed to capture a new member. And considering the gym she was going to challenge specialized in...Bug-types...she couldn't have Marisso face them all by himself, considering he was weak to the type. Sure he had Rollout to make up for it and hit those scary bugs with a super effective move, but that alone could only carry her so far.

She needed to catch something else to help support Marisso.

"But I've seen everything..." Serena mumbled. "Even a dunsparce...and I couldn't even catch that...what else is there?"

As Serena and Marisso looked around, they heard the grass rustle once more.

"Ah! Another Pokémon!" Serena quietly alerted Marisso.

The hedgehog got into a defensive position as they observed the grass. From out of it, a round, blue mouse-like Pokémon tumbled out, before falling flat on its face.

"Huh...?" Serena asked, eyeing the mouse. "Wait, it's injured!"

Serena hastily rushed over to the mouse, before taking out a potion to heal it.

"A marill...?" Trevor asked. "What's it doing out here? Normally they would be found in the pond area..."

"More importantly, why is it injured?" Tierno asked.

Serena sprayed the potion on its wounds, healing them.

"A-Are you alright?" Serena asked the marill.

Marill slowly opened her eyes, before noticing Serena and Marisso. The marill jumped up and backed away, before noticing that her wounds have been healed.

"-Did...did you heal me?-" Marill asked Serena.

"-Yeah, she did,-" Marisso informed Marill.

"-Huh...thank you...-" Marill said to Serena.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright," Serena smiled, seeing that Marill was all better. "But why were you hurt like that?"

"-This guy with a froakie and a scyther showed up, and had them attack us,-" Marill explained. "-And I was blown away from my friends afterwards...-"

"-A froakie and a scyther...?-" Marisso asked, before realizing who the culprit was. "-Did he have short brown hair and a really dark expression?-"

"-Yeah! He did!-" Marill responded.

"What're they talking about...?" Serena asked as she watched the two small Pokémon converse.

"Beats me..." Tierno shrugged. "It's not like we can understand them."

"Maybe if we were Unovans, then we could understand them," Trevor joked.

"Yeah," Shauna laughed, before remembering something. "Wait Seré! Now's your chance!"

"Huh?" Serena asked, while Marisso and Marill looked up.

"There's a Pokémon right in front of you! And it's a Water-type!" Shauna yelled. "If anything, THIS is the perfect opponent to try and catch!"

"Not to mention Marill's also a Fairy-type," Trevor explained. "Fairy-types resist Bug-type attacks."

"Really?" Serena perked up.

"-Uh...it looks like she wants to catch you now...-" Marisso said.

"-Really?-" Marill asked. "-But...-"

Marill glanced back to the direction of the pond, worried about the rest of her friends who were probably fighting off against the trainer with the froakie and scyther.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Serena asked.

Marill looked back up to the girl. Perhaps she can help. Seeking an opportunity, Marill jumped up and down, pointing to the direction of the pond before racing towards it.

"Huh?! Wait!" Serena yelped, chasing after the marill with Marisso.

"What the...? Seré, wait!" Shauna yelled, chasing after her friend.

"You think that marill wants us to chase after it?" Trevor asked.

"Well it did try to get our attention..." Tierno said. "Regardless, we can't let just those two to go off to who knows where."

"Right," Trevor said, before giving chase to them.

* * *

Marill finally reached the pond that she got blown away from, only to see one last marill fall to Scyther. Looking up, it saw that all of her marill comrades have been defeated by Scyther and Froakie, with their trainer looking indifferent at the carnage.

"-Finally we're done...-" Scyther muttered.

"-Well...at least we can react faster...I think...?-" Froakie replied, although it sounded more like a question rather than a response.

Calem studied their tired expressions, before noticing that there was someone else watching them. He turned to see a lone marill, glaring menacingly at him.

"You...you're that one marill that got blown away earlier," Calem commented.

"Marill, wait up!"

Everyone looked to see Serena and Marisso, chasing after Marill.

"Huh, Calem?" Serena asked, stopping and noticing the boy.

"Serena..." Calem muttered.

Everyone else caught up to them, witnessing the scenario at hand.

"What the...all of these marills..." Tierno said in shock.

"Hey! Did you do this?!" Shauna yelled angrily at Calem.

"And what if I was?" Calem asked.

"Why...?" Serena asked. "Why did you fight all these marills?"

"This horde is rather famous for commonly knowing Aqua Jet, and having overall high potential," Calem explained. "It made for handy training to improve Froakie's and Scyther's matchup against priority."

"So you just go and terrorize random wild Pokémon just to make yourself stronger?!" Shauna growled.

"A rhetorical question," Calem scoffed. "Isn't this what all trainers do? Fight against Pokémon; wild or owned; to improve themselves?"

Shauna didn't expect that, and tried to make a response, but couldn't. He had a point; in order to become stronger, all trainers fight opposing Pokémon, whether they be wild or owned by another trainer. It was the basic principle for all Pokémon trainers. Serena certainly couldn't say anything, since she had been battling countless wild Pokémon for the past few hours in an attempt to catch one for herself.

"-You just attacked us without any warning!-" Marill yelled accusingly.

Froakie simply shrugged while Scyther didn't seem to care at all. Enraged at their nonchalance, Marill growled, before lunging at them in an Aqua Jet. Having dealt with several of these for the past hour or so, Scyther simply parried the attack and swatted the mouse, making it fall.

"Marill!" Serena cried.

"Did you have to do that?" Calem reprimanded Scyther, who simply shrugged, much to the boy's chagrin.

The blonde ran and caught the mouse before she hit the ground. Calem said nothing, before recalling Froakie and Scyther and making his leave.

"Sorry about that," Calem muttered to Serena as he past her, placing a berry next to her as he did so.

Serena looked up from Marill and at Calem as the boy left; the boy not even looking back once as he exited the scene.

* * *

"What's the matter with him?!" Shauna fumed. "He can't just go around and beat up a bunch of marills like that!"

"Well technically, yes he can," Trevor said somewhat nervously. "...I mean...any fighting that occurs in the wild is classified as a 'wild encounter', and as long as he didn't do anything illegal or goes against the regulations and restrictions the Pokémon league established, such as poaching, then him instigating a fight with the horde is perfectly legal."

"Well that's not fair at all!" Shauna lashed out at the small boy.

"Even if you say that, it's not like we can do anything about it," Trevor interjected, trying to calm Shauna down. "Let's just put it in the past. He seemed to have a legitimate reasoning for doing what he did, and he didn't do anything illegal per say...moral ethics aside."

While Shauna was still fuming, Serena glanced back down to Marill, and picked up the berry Calem had placed.

"This was an oran berry, right...?" Serena mumbled, before feeding it to Marill.

The water mouse ate the berry, allowing it to rejuvenate the mouse. Feeling better, Marill got back up, but looked somewhat bummed out.

"Are you alright?" Serena asked Marill.

Marill nodded rather glumly, before glancing at all her friends.

"I'm sorry that we didn't make it in time..." Serena said, trying to comfort the mouse.

"-It's not your fault...-" Marill said back. "-It's all that guy's fault...-"

Marill was still pretty bitter about Calem; Serena could tell just by looking at the frustrated look on Marill's face. The mouse certainly didn't seem to like him.

She still needed to catch something...

"...Well...There's a good chance we'll see him again, if you stick with me..." Serena said, getting the mouse's attention. "I mean...that's if you want to come with me..."

Marill looked up to Serena. She did have a point: if she stuck with her, then she would be able to face that boy again. But she didn't want to leave her friends...

Marill glanced to the other marills as they slowly began to get back up. They all shared a look with her; a similar contempt, scornful look. They all wanted to get back at the boy for suddenly attacking them like that. They all nodded to Marill, seemingly understanding that she wanted to go with Serena, and were silently encouraging her to do so.

Acknowledging that, Marill faced Serena with a determined look on her face.

"-So...is that a yes?-" Marisso asked.

Marill nodded in response. Marisso nodded to Serena in response.

"So she wants to come with us?" Serena asked, earning an enthusiastic nod from the hedgehog. "Alright!"

Serena took out a pokéball and tossed it to Marill. The ball hit Marill, sucking the mouse into it in a red light. The ball landed, shook three times, before flashing briefly and stopped any motion whatsoever.

"Yes!" Serena cheered as she went over and picked up the ball. "I caught a marill!"

"Alright!" Shauna cheered along with her best friend.

"Marill should definitely help you against Viola," Trevor said. "A Fairy-type resists Bug. And if what Calem said is true, then this marill out to be quite formidable."

"Why don't you check its stats with your pokédex, Serena?" Tierno suggested.

Serena looked somewhat surprised that she could do that, but remembered Calem doing something like that with Scyther when he caught it yesterday.

"Right," Serena said, taking out her pokédex.

She lifted the device and placed it over Marill's pokéball, scanning the mouse.

"Marill, the aqua mouse Pokémon," it read. "The fur on its body naturally repels water. It can stay dry, even when it plays in the water."

"Uh let's see..." Serena mumbled as she scrolled down the data.

"Female. Adamant nature. Takes plenty of siestas. Ability: Huge Power. Knows the moves Water Gun, Tail Whip, Aqua Jet, and Belly Drum."

"What's Belly Drum?" Serena asked.

"That's a really good move," Trevor explained. "The user cuts its health in half, however in return, its attack power is maxed out."

"Wow..." Serena was impressed by that. "Speaking of which..."

Serena decided to scan Marisso too.

"Chespin, the spiky nut Pokémon," it read. "The quills on its head are usually soft. When it flexes them, the points become so hard and sharp that they can pierce rock."

"Nickname: 'Marisso'. Male. Relaxed Nature. Capable of taking hits. Ability: Overgrow. Knows the moves Vine Whip, Pin Missile, Rollout, and Leech Seed."

"Wow...he's pretty strong, considering we just met yesterday..." Serena said, making the Grass-type blush in embarrassment. "Oh that's right! I should give Marill a nickname!"

Serena turned to the blue mouse and kneeled down to her.

"Is that okay with you?" Serena asked nicely.

"-Uh...ok,-" Marill nodded.

"Hm...You're a girl...marill..." Serena mumbled. "...hmm...Mari? No...that sounds too similar to Marisso...how about 'Rill'?"

Marill tilted to the side, but nodded in response. It was cute.

From now on, she would be known simply as 'Rill'.

"Well then, let's work together from now on, Rill," Serena smiled.

"-Okay!-" Rill squealed.

"So what now?" Shauna asked. "You plan on going to the gym now?"

"Huh?" Serena asked.

"I mean, it took all afternoon just to get Rill," Tierno explained. "Do you plan to just go with your newly caught marill and Marisso to the gym?"

Serena glanced at her current team. It only consisted of her chespin, who was the only one to receive any training up to this point, and her marill, which was just freshly caught. Rill being a Fairy-type would help against the Bug-type gym, but then again she just caught her. No doubt the gym leader would not be a push-over to fall easily to a newly caught Pokémon, even if said Pokémon was hinted to be quite strong. And her Pokémon that was actually trained is weak to Bug-types. And considering a good portion of bug Pokémon were known to have flight capabilities, like Calem's Scyther, then she was sure to face one with not just Bug-type attacks, but also Flying-type attacks; both which would do major damage to Marisso.

"Uh...do you all mind if I train up for the rest of the day?" Serena asked rather shyly.

"Of course not!" Shauna said encouragingly. "In fact, I'll help you!"

"Better to be safe than sorry after all," Trevor agreed.

"Alright then," Tierno said, releasing Corphish and Fletchling. "Fletchling would be a good opponent to practice against flying opponents."

"Right," Serena smiled. "Thanks everyone."

With that, Marisso and Rill got ready as Fletchling took to the skies and Corphish clamped his pincers aggressively. Serena took a deep breath, before ordering Rill to propel at Fletchling with Aqua Jet.

* * *

After hours of training, the group finally decided to head back to Santalune City and rest up at the pokécenter, before heading to the Santalune City Gym.

"So Seré, you ready for this?" Shauna asked.

"I hope so," Serena said.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Tierno said to reassure her. "You trained your best, and I'm sure Marisso and Rill will be able to power through."

Serena glanced down to her two pokéballs. Marisso and Rill were trained as much as she could against Tierno's Corphish and Fletchling.

"Right," Serena said. "We better get going though. It's almost twilight."

Indeed, the sky was already a brilliant orange, signaling the approaching end of the day. If they kept stalling for longer, then dusk would come. Deciding not to waste any more time, the group entered the gym, where they were greeted by a rather impressive gallery of portraits. A long sliding pole leading to another lower level was in the middle of the gallery, with a portly man waiting near it.

"What's the hustle, little Crustle?" the guide said jovially. "Welcome to Santalune City Gym! So, future Champ, this'll be your first time challenging a Gym, huh? Are you thrilled? Are you pumped?"

"I-I guess..." Serena mumbled.

"You should be!" the guide laughed, giving Serena a hearty pat on the back. "No worries here! You've got Pokémon on your side! And really, they're the ones who are gonna be doing all the battling. Am I right or am I right? Right?"

"I don't like this guy..." Shauna whispered. "He gives off a bad and irritating vibe."

"Jump on that pole there, and you'll be on your way to where the Gym Leader's a-waitin' for you!" the guide said. "Whoops! But wait! Before you go, I'm supposed to tell you something! Everybody in this Pokémon Gym uses Bug-type Pokémon. Got it?"

"G-Got it..." Serena stuttered, being reminded that she would have to face Bug types.

"Oh, and I think I outta inform you," the guide added. "Another trainer came by earlier. I think he's still in the middle of his challenge."

"Another trainer...?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, he looked pretty serious," the guide said. "I told him that he needed to lighten up a little, but all I got was the cold shoulder. Meh, cold guys like him won't get the ladies. Even if he was admittedly a pretty boy."

"Cold...pretty boy...?" Serena asked. _'Could it be...?'_

"Oh, are you all here for the challenge by the way?" the guide asked.

"No, only our friend here is," Tierno said. "We're just her friends, here to support her."

"Alrighty then," the guide said. "Only the lady here has to go down the pole, you three can go through the stairs over there."

The guide pushed a switch on the podium, where a staircase appeared at the back. The guide led Shauna, Tierno and Trevor to the staircase, leaving Serena all alone, with the pole beckoning her to slide down.

"A cold, serious, pretty boy, huh..." Serena muttered. "Could that be...Calem...I mean, he is pretty cold and serious...and admittedly c-cute..."

Her cheeks began to heat up slightly when calling the boy 'cute', prompting her to shake off the thoughts.

"No! I need to focus now..." Serena said. "Let's just start..."

Serena grabbed the pole and made her descent down. But soon enough she ran out of pole to hang onto, leaving her to free fall down screaming onto a giant spider web.

"W–what...?" Serena mumbled as she got back up.

She looked around. She was on quite possibly the largest spider web she has ever seen in her entire life; and quite possibly the entire world. Her face paled slightly. While she was vehemently afraid of Bug-types, she wasn't exactly too afraid of the webs they make. They always end up being fascinating and rather beautiful in terms of design. Begs the question however; what exactly made such a large web?

That was something she didn't want to think about. She couldn't imagine how many spider Pokémon like ariados or galvantula it took to make it, or how _large_ of a spider Pokémon it was to make such a large web.

Surprisingly, the web wasn't too sticky; sure it was sticky, but she could easily pry her feet off of the web, and it was still firm and strong enough to not break from her weight and keep her from falling down into what appeared to be a bottomless abyss.

Not that she was fat or anything, but she was amazed that the web was very strong.

The web was designed like a maze; she had to find the right path, while the wrong path led her to a dead end that she had to backtrack to do so. The only sounds that filled the maze were the droplets of water, and the squirming and scattering of bugs, which unnerved her as she tried out figure out the maze.

* * *

Eventually she made it out of the maze that was the giant web and reached a large arena, where she found her friends on a mini bleacher.

"Seré!" Shauna called out.

"You guys!" Serena exclaimed, happy to see them after going through a dark maze in solitude, as she approached them, until she spotted another familiar person sitting away from them. "C-Calem?!"

The boy in question gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

"W–what're you doing here...?" Serena asked. "N–not that I don't mind or anything."

"I challenged the gym since Froakie wanted to fight Viola," Calem said, gesturing to the frog in question next to him. "I was about to leave until I ran into your friends on the way out, where they told me that you would be challenging Viola. So I decided to stay and see how you would fare against a gym leader."

"I–I see..." Serena mumbled.

This worked out two ways for the girl. She was ecstatic that Calem decided to stay and watch her, where she could prove to him that she has indeed improved. But at the same time, she was afraid and nervous of screwing up and losing to Viola in front of Calem, and making a bad impression to him.

She needed to win no matter what.

"Sorry for the wait!"

Everyone turned to the tent, where Viola emerged from it.

"I needed to go heal up my team," Viola said apologetically. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

"No, I just got here," Serena admitted.

"Alright then, a two vs two match outta be good," Viola asked, gesturing Serena to the other side of the arena. "Shall we begin?"

The honey blonde obliged and went to her side of the field, taking a deep breath. This was her first gym battle. She needed to stay calm.

"Let's," Serena said with as much determination in her eyes as she could muster.

"That's the spirit Seré!" Shauna cheered.

That determined expression...That glint in your eye that says you're up to the challenge..." Viola commented, gripping her camera fiercely. "It's fantastic! Just fantastic! Is this your first time challenging a Gym? Fantastic! Whether it's the tears of frustration that follow a loss or the blossoming of joy that comes with victory... They're both great subjects for my camera! Fantastic! This'll be just fantastic!"

Without warning, Viola took out a pokéball and released a small blue insectoid Pokémon; possessing a round body with four long skinny legs, making Serena's expression falter slightly.

"Now come at me! My lens is always focused on victory—I won't let anything ruin this shot!"

Right, this was a Bug-type gym. At least this one looked slightly cute? It didn't keep her from shuddering though.

* * *

"You can do this Seré!" Shauna called out, getting the blonde back in high spirits.

"R-Right!" Serena said, snapping out of her initial stun and decided to scan the Pokémon.

"Surskit, the pond skater Pokémon," it read. "They usually live on ponds, but after an evening shower, they may appear on puddles in towns."

"A Bug/Water type..." Serena mumbled. "So Rill won't be a good choice...alright then, Marisso!"

Serena released Marisso, who landed on the ground and glared at his opponent, pounding his small paws in aggression.

"Alright then, start it off with Bubble Beam!" Viola commanded.

"Dodge it!" Serena hastily yelled.

Surskit proceeded to shoot a spray of bubbles at Marisso, who avoided them as the bug shot more of them.

"Cancel them out with Pin Missile! Then approach with Vine Whip!" Serena commanded.

Marisso avoided another spray as he shot several pins like missiles at Surskit, which the bug managed to intercept with Bubble Beam. As the projectiles collided, Marisso ran up to Surskit with vines extended out from his collar and smacked Surskit in the face with them. Surskit recoiled, before backing off in a smooth motion, as if it was skating on the field.

"Signal Beam!"

"Avoid it with Rollout!"

Surskit aimed at Marisso and shot a sinister beam of light at the Grass-type, who avoided it for dear life as a rolling ball. Marisso proceeded to accelerate across the field, before turning around and roll towards Surskit.

"Get away, Surskit!" Viola yelled.

Surskit skated away from Marisso across the field, as Marisso relentlessly pursued the spider-like skater with increasing speed. Soon enough, Marisso caught up with Surskit and smashed into it, sending Surskit flying.

"Go Marisso!" Shauna cheered.

"This is looking pretty good," Tierno nodded happily. "Marisso managed to catch up to Surskit and land a Rollout."

"Well, Rollout does increase in power and speed over time, so it was only a matter of time that Marisso would catch up to Surskit," Trevor commented. "In fact, Marisso taking much longer to catch up to Surskit allowed him to increase the power of Rollout and deal much more damage to Surskit."

"-Not bad,-" Froakie commented. "-I had to force the bugger to slip up before catching it.-"

Calem said nothing as he watched Serena's battle with seemingly cold eyes.

Surskit groggily got back up, not looking too good to continue for much longer.

"Finish it off with Vine Whip!" Serena yelled.

"Sticky Web!"

Marisso lunged at Surskit with one last Vine Whip, where Surskit spewed a sticky net that covered Serena's side of the field, right before Marisso landed the finishing hit on it and defeating it.

"Yeah, go Seré!" Shauna cheered.

Serena did a fist pump as Marisso grinned. She managed to get herself in the lead! Serena looked up to where Calem was sitting, seeing if he witnessed that. Where she was hoping for some visible sign of praise was only met with a neutral expression from the boy. While she was slightly saddened, it was to be expected. Viola still had one more Pokémon to go, and gym leaders tend to save their strongest Pokémon for last. The challenger still needed to stay focused. Just because she won against one of the gym leader's members doesn't mean she could celebrate just yet, after all.

"It's not over yet," Tierno said, noting the Sticky Web.

"What is this...?" Serena mumbled to herself as she eyed the webs that littered her side of the field.

"That was an impressive performance, Serena," Viola said. "But let's see how you do against this baby!"

Viola recalled Surskit and replaced it with a butterfly-like Pokémon with large wings with a majorly pink design on them. Serena scanned the butterfly in question.

"Vivillon, the scale Pokémon," the pokédex read. "Vivillon with many different patterns are found all over the world. These patterns are affected by the climate of their habitat."

Serena trembled in fear at the sight of the butterfly. The surskit looked slightly cute, so she could bear with it. This, on the other hand, was a different story, and it took all of Serena's determination to _not_ scream in fear. Either way, she knew that Marisso couldn't take this on, and recalled him into his pokéball.

"Go, Rill!" Serena yelled as she called upon her marill.

Rill landed onto the webs, where they quickly ensnared her in them.

"-What the–?! Gross!-" Rill yelped as she tried to free herself of the webs.

"What's going on?" Serena asked.

"Sticky Web," Viola decided to explain. "They're an entry hazard that ensnares any grounded Pokémon in the webs, lowering their speed as well."

Serena looked shocked, before looking at Rill in worry as she tried to get out of the webs.

"Rill, Water Gun!" Serena yelled, deciding that getting out of the webs wasn't an option.

Rill obeyed Serena and shot a stream of water at Vivillon, who easily fluttered away from it.

"Bug Buzz!"

Vivillon unleashed an ear-piercing noise that invaded Rill's ears, along with everyone else's ears, causing everyone who listened to the noise pain.

"-Agh!-" Rill screamed in pain as she covered her ears.

"Hang in there, Rill!" Serena pleaded. "Stop it with Water Gun!

Rill did her best to withstand the noise that VIvillon was creating, while trying to free herself from the Sticky Web as she shot a Water Gun at Vivillon. Since the butterfly was in the middle of an attack, it couldn't dodge the Water Gun. Fortunately, it had enough force to stop Vivillon and the Bug Buzz.

"Thank goodness..." Shauna sighed in relief, having the noise stopped.

"But now what...?" Tierno asked. "Rill is Serena's only defense against Bug-types, and she's not doing very well. She's still stuck in the Sticky Web and took a decent amount of damage from that Bug Buzz."

' _I need to take it out in one fell swoop,'_ Serena thought. She had to put in all on this gamble. "Rill, Belly Drum!"

Rill obliged and repeatedly smacked her belly with her limbs, hurting herself in exchange for maximizing her strength.

"Now, Aqua Jet!" Serena commanded.

With her newfound strength, Rill formed a torrent of water around her and lunged at Vivillon as a bullet of water, able to rip out of the Sticky Web.

"Counter it with Sleep Powder!" Viola simply yelled.

Vivillon managed to avoid Rill's Aqua Jet, surprising both Serena and Rill. Rill turned around and lunged at Vivillon once more, but Vivillon released a powder around itself as it dodged Rill once more, causing Rill to crash back into the webs.

"Rill!" Serena yelled out in worry.

Serena glanced to Rill in worry, before being shocked that Rill was asleep.

"Oh no, Rill's been put to sleep from that Sleep Powder!" Trevor warned Serena.

"No, please wake up, Rill!" Serena cried desperately, to no avail.

"Now, Hurricane!" Viola yelled.

Vivillon's wings glowed blue, before it flapped them furiously, creating a violent storm of winds, ripping Rill apart along with the webs.

"RILL!" Serena cried.

Once the storm ended, Rill was lying on her face, unconscious and unable to battle.

"No, Rill...!" Serena gasped.

"This is bad..." Tierno muttered as Serena sadly recalled Rill. "To think Vivillon had Sleep Powder and Hurricane as well..."

"While Marisso isn't effected by Sleep Powder by virtue of him being a Grass-type," Trevor added. "He still has to worry about Bug Buzz and Hurricane, two of the strongest moves in their respective type category."

"Well, can't Marisso just dodge them with Rollout like he did against Surskit?" Shauna asked, trying to find a gleam of hope.

"Maybe with Hurricane," Trevor replied grimly. "But Bug Buzz is a different story, since it's a sound-based move."

"And we still don't know what's Vivillon's last move is," Tierno muttered. "Either way, Serena is going to have a bad time."

Calem still kept silent as he observed Serena. The girl was panicking as she released her chespin back onto the field. Her expression said it all. She was hoping that the marill could take out the vivillon with a Belly Drum boosted Aqua Jet. A smart move, considering that Aqua Jet had priority over all other moves, and that Belly Drum would give Marill enough power to deal tremendous amounts of damage to Vivillon or outright knock it out due to how frail it is on the physical defense.

But Viola was a gym leader. Someone of her caliber wouldn't fall for such a simple tactic so easily. While Aqua Jet had priority over most moves, it was still in the end, just an attack, and still perfectly avoidable. Vivillon had enough skill to do so, and even pull the marill into a trap by laying out Sleep Powder around it, and catching her with it as she tried to hit Vivillon again. Coupled by the fact that Belly Drum sacrifices half of the user's health in exchange for the sharp increase in power, Rill was simply easy to take out once Vivillon managed to set it up right. Calem glanced back to Froakie, who was glaring bitterly at Vivillon. The Sleep Powder trap was the same tactic that led to Froakie losing to Vivillon after all; of course he wouldn't have fond memories of it.

Her situation looked grim. Her chespin, despite not being too exhausted since his fight was relatively easy, was in a rather dire position. Against an opponent with a dual type advantage, carrying STAB moves that could easily rip the Grass-type apart, and carrying the advantage in aerial combat and distance, the chespin stood little chance. However...

"She still has a chance," Calem muttered. Should she have the right moves on her chespin, then she can still win.

* * *

Serena was sweating bullets. She was down to Marisso, who was at a huge disadvantage against Vivillon, who tore apart her only defense against Bug-types in Rill. Serena began to hyperventilate, worrying Marisso.

"C'mon Seré!" Shauna yelled. "You can still do this! You need to calm down!"

Fortunately Shauna's words of encouragement registered to Serena. Of course, she needed to calm down. Panicking now would only ensure her loss. She still had Marisso. They could still win.

"Right..." Serena exhaled, managing to calm down.

Serena knew she had to take down Vivillon in one strike. But seeing the airborne adversary, that task would be tricky. Not to mention Vivillon didn't suffer too much from fighting Rill. She needed to wear Vivillon down somewhat.

"Marisso, try to hit Vivillon with Leech Seed!" Serena yelled.

Marisso nodded as he shot a seed at Vivillon. The butterfly avoided the seed, but Marisso kept trying to snipe Vivillon with the Leech Seed.

"No good...it's too fast..." Serena mumbled. "I need it to stay still if I want to hit it...Marisso, keep a close eye on Vivillon!"

Marisso nodded as he watched the butterfly soar through the field.

"That won't do you any good," Viola commented. "Bug Buzz!"

Vivillon released yet another ear-piercing noise, blasting Marisso with the noise. Marisso saw it as an opportunity and shot a Leech Seed at it while it was in the middle of its attack, successfully landing it.

"Hang in there, Marisso!" Serena yelled. "Pin Missile!"

Marisso managed to withstand the pain and shoot several Pin Missiles at Vivillon, blasting it with them and managing to stop the attack.

"Vivillon, Infestation!"

From the smoke caused from the impact of Pin Missile, Vivillon glowed a red aura as it spread out its wings.

"What's it doing...?" Serena asked, confused at the butterfly.

"-What the–?!-" Marisso yelped, getting Serena's attention.

The girl looked down to see Marisso slowly being covered by miniscule, black maggots.

"What the–!?" Serena shrieked.

"What the heck is that?!" Shauna yelled.

"Infestation..." Trevor explained. "The user calls upon an infestation to trap their opponent. It lasts from four to five minutes, and it prevents switching, escape, and overall movement, while the maggots chip away at the target's health."

"Could this be it...?" Tierno asked, worried.

Marisso tried to get the maggots off of him, but to no avail. There were just too many of them. Vivillon simply floated above Marisso, who struggled to break free in vain, and decided to watch the struggle with a hint of sadistic glee.

"Well Serena, you did well," Viola complimented, deciding that enough is enough. "But it looks like the battle's over."

"C'mon, Marisso, you have to get out of there!" Serena pleaded.

"-I'm trying!-" Marisso yelled, as he struggled against the infestation.

"Don't worry. I'll help you break free from it now," Viola smirked. "Vivillon! End this with Hurricane!"

"NO!" Serena cried in desperation.

Vivillon unleashed another furious hurricane upon Marisso, ripping up the field he was standing on.

Serena fell to her knees. There was no way Marisso could have survived such an attack. She had lost.

"I–I lost..." Serena mumbled in despair.

"Well, that's that, I guess," Viola said, clapping her hands. "You did great though, Serena. Terrific job in spite of your disadvantage with your chespin. Well, if you want a rematch later, I'll be happy to accept it whenever you're–."

"No."

Everyone turned to Calem, who had been relatively silent for the whole match, caught by surprise at his sudden intrusion.

"It's not over yet," Calem said firmly.

"Huh? What do you...?" Viola asked, before hearing a firm footstep from the field.

Everyone turned their attention back to it, where from the smoke and dust, Marisso was still standing, albeit extremely exhausted and tired, panting with all his might.

"Marisso...!" Serena gasped.

"But how?!" Viola gasped, shocked that Marisso was still standing. "It shouldn't have been able to withstand Bug Buzz, Infestation, _and_ Hurricane!"

"Don't count your torchics before they hatch, gym leader," Calem said, pointing to Vivillon.

The butterfly suddenly fell, struggling to stay in the air.

"Huh?! Vivillon?!" Viola gasped, before noticing a small seed on it, having sprouted thin roots that ensnared the butterfly. "Leech Seed?! When did that get on Vivillon?!"

"From when Vivillon used Bug Buzz," Serena remembered witnessing Marisso land it on VIvillon during its first attack.

"Because you felt an overwhelming superiority throughout the match, you failed to notice the Leech Seed," Calem continued. "As you watched Marisso struggle against you, you allowed the Leech Seed to drain Vivillon of its health, providing Marisso with constant healing while whittling you down at the same time. It was thanks to that Marisso was able to gather enough health to withstand the Hurricane."

"Th–that can't be...!" Viola muttered.

"And you," Calem said firmly, facing Serena. "...Don't give up so easily until you're truly down for the count."

"Calem..." Serena said, touched by the subtle encouragement. It was enough to give her newfound determination. "Right! We can still do this, Marisso!"

"-Right!-" Marisso declared as he stood firmly.

"We need to finish this NOW!" Serena yelled. "Rollout!"

Marisso ran for the now weakened Vivillon, before charging forward in a rolling ball. Vivillon tried to get back into the air, but the Leech Seed had weakened so much, that the Bug-type struggled to even flap its wings. Vivillon was helpless as Marisso crashed into it, blasting it into the tent behind Viola.

"Vivillon!" Viola cried.

The gym leader rushed over to check up on Vivillon, who was found unconscious, unable to fight any further.

* * *

"W–We won...?" Serena asked, slightly unsure of it all.

"Yep..." Viola sighed, before smiling. "You win, Serena."

"Y–Yes!" Serena cheered, even jumping up a little.

"-Phew...Marisso sighed, before falling onto his rump.

"You did it Seré!" Shauna squealed as she raced down the bleachers to envelop her friend into a hug. "That was AWESOME!"

"We were pretty worried about what would happen for a second," Tierno said. "Congratulations on your first win, Serena."

"Thanks you guys," Serena said, before getting out of Shauna's hug and walking over to Marisso. "We did it. I couldn't have done it without you and Rill."

Marisso smiled, scratching the back of his head.

"That was fantastic, Serena," Viola said, walking up to them. "You...no, you and your chespin have shown me a whole new depth of field. Truly fantastic! I have to apologize for my arrogance during the battle. It was wrong of me to torture your chespin like that and assume that I won, simply based on a type advantage. That's a rookie mistake on my part."

"No, it's alright," Serena assured her. "I thought we lost at that last Hurricane too. But we managed to pull it off."

"Verily," Viola nodded, taking out a badge and a disc. "With this victory, I present you with the very first Kalos League Badge; the Bug Badge!"

Serena accepted the badge. It was a shaped like a beetle with a round attachment on the top. Her very first badge. Serena couldn't help but feel giddy over it.

"And here, a TM for you," Viola continued, handing her the disc. "It contains the move Infestation. Hopefully it'll help you on your journey."

"Thank you, Viola," Serena said, accepting the disc.

"Way to go, Seré!" Shauna cheered.

"Indeed, congratulations," Trevor nodded.

"Now then, you all can go up through the stairs in the tent over there," Viola said. "You all must be tired.

"Yeah," Serena said, looking at Marisso. He was exhausted, to say the least. "Alright, have a good night, Viola."

As the group headed out, Serena stopped by Calem, who had recalled Froakie to his pokéball.

"Um...Calem..." Serena mumbled.

"Hm? What is it?" Calem asked.

"Uh...th–thank you, for encouraging me back there..." Serena mumbled, her cheeks slightly red.

Calem raised an eyebrow at the girl, before patting her on the shoulder.

"You did well, Serena," Calem said in a neutral tone. "Frankly I was impressed by how well your chespin managed, despite having to face two Bug-types; one with a dual type advantage like Vivillon."

Serena glanced up to Calem, her expression lightening up, before sporting a smile.

"Thank you!" Serena exclaimed cheerfully.

"C'mon, Seré!" Shauna called out. "Let's head back to the pokécenter!"

Serena looked past Calem to realize that her friends were already at the stairs.

"Ah, wait for me!" Serena yelled, but not before turning to Calem. "Well, I see you later Calem. Have a good night"

"Yeah, you too," Calem waved, dismissing the girl.

Serena nodded, before chasing after her friends up the stairs, leaving Calem to glance back at Viola.

"Frankly I'm disappointed," Calem said bluntly. "I would've figured a gym leader like you wouldn't underestimate their foe, no matter how much of an advantage you might have had."

"Yeah, yeah, you don't need to remind me," Viola grumbled. This boy seemed to be nice to only Serena, from what the professional photographer could note through her limited encounters with him and her at the same time. "I won't make the same mistake twice."

"For both of our sakes, I hope so as well," Calem simply said, before heading up the stairs. "I entrusted you with the Pinsirite after all. I do hope you don't make me regret my decision."

As Calem left, leaving Viola to herself, the woman took out said stone from her purse and examined it. Viola had heard of these before; the 'Mega Stones', linked to 'Mega Evolution'. Only powerful trainers with a strong bond with their Pokémon could achieve such a feat, and even then they need the right Mega Stone and a Key Stone to perform it. So why give the Pinsirite to her? Is it just because she has a pinsir? Or does he see potential in her as a wielder of Mega Evolution?

Come to think about it, the boy was nothing but mysteries. He was obviously a strong trainer, almost to the feats of a veteran class if he only had more than three Pokémon, and gave her a Mega Stone. During their battle, Calem performed much better than Serena. It was obvious enough, with the boy possessing a much better team and having more experience; even taking on Challenge Mode and winning. His Froakie managed to win against Masquerain, before falling to Vivillon, and even then it managed to put up a decent fight.

But what caught the photographer's eye was Calem's own eyes. They were a sharp, gray color; somewhat uncommon and distinct. During the battle, they gave off a cool, confident, and calm aura as he fought against her.

And yet, they felt empty.

They felt devoid of any emotions outside of the adrenaline of battling. As if he didn't enjoy the battle; he just treated it like a profession. A job. A mission of sorts.

They lacked passion.

And yet, when Calem was speaking to Serena during the battle, and right afterwards, just for a glimpse of a moment, they didn't look empty. There was a glimmer of luster in them. It was as if Calem was honestly trying to encourage Serena to not give up, and was genuinely complimenting her.

Could Calem perhaps...?

"Nah," Viola shook her head. "Either way, I'm sure he wouldn't admit it. He looks like the prideful type anyways."

* * *

"Achoo!"

Calem sneezed, covering his nose, before taking out a handkerchief and wiping it. Calem grumbled something under his breath, before continuing to traverse the cold night of Route 4.

"Hm...Serena won...and with her chespin against both Surskit and Vivillon," Calem muttered. "...Maye she does have potential to...hm...Well, we'll find out tomorrow, assuming she does pick the right Pokémon."

As Calem walked alone in solitude, he couldn't help but reflect to the battle he had spectated, and to the girl who tried her hardest and prevailed. Such honest emotions presented in the battle. Frankly it was somewhat refreshing to him.

"...'Don't give up so easily until you're truly down for the count', huh..." Calem muttered, quoting what he said to Serena to encourage her.

He recalled the person who told him that, back when Calem was a simple boy, when his mighty blaziken was a small torchic, and when the two were trying their damnedest to be the best they could be, and to hopefully one day surpass that person.

...Calem couldn't help but punch a nearby fence, snarling in anger at the memory.

That person was no longer someone he respected. He lost all respect for that person long ago.

Having brought himself back into a foul mood, Calem muttered under his breath as he made the path to Lumiose City in an angry solitude.

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN:** Fun fact rill is defined as a small river or brook. Since Marill doesn't have a different name in French for me to use for a nickname (like Marisso, because Chespin in French is 'Marisson'), might as well just use that. Rill seems meaningful since Marill's a water-type, and the fact that Rill is in Marill's name must mean that the word rill has been used in consideration regarding Marill's naming. It was either Rill or Mari, and Mari seemed too similar to Marisso. I know I kinda cheated with Marill by giving it Aqua Jet and Belly Drum, but hey, I did worse things back in my previous stories. Besides it wasn't like it gave Serena an edge over Viola. In fact, Rill didn't get to do much at all in the battle.

To be honest, I could've gone even worse with Vivillon's moveset by adding Quiver Dance in place of either Sleep Powder or Bug Buzz. Or even Struggle Bug, but then again, what's a gym leader without the move they give you as a TM? Pretty that happened before, but besides the point. Besides, I'm pretty sure Sticky Web on Surskit, plus Bug Buzz and Hurricane on Vivillon was enough. Hopefully it was still enjoyable.

And to update:

Serena: Marisso (Chespin) / Rill (Marill)

Calem: Blaziken / Froakie / Scyther

Shauna: Kinniekins (Fennekin)

Tierno: Corphish / Fletchling

Trevor: Flabébé / Pikachu

...I know I'm gonna regret doing this, but to those of you who care: my Platinum story will publish on **December 24.**

Hopefully. Yeah if that doesn't happen by then, then assume it being delayed by at least two weeks. Given my track record, I dunno whether giving an actual release date is a good idea or not, but hey, I'll try to keep to my promises.

Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time and take care.


	4. Lumiose Rendezvous

**Fidelity**

 **Chapter 4: Lumiose** **Rendezvous**

* * *

 **AN:** I hope you've all been enjoying 2016 so far. Here's chapter 4 for you guys!

But first, some responses:

 **I. M. Poik:** Glad you enjoyed the last one. Hopefully you'll be happy to know that I did get the Platinum story out on time, and hopefully you've taken a look at it by then.

 **Guest:** Thanks! Glad you liked it.

 **flashyhero:** Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully you had a nice vacation.

 **Knight of Wings:** Well welcome back! Glad you like it so far, and glad you like the decisions I made in terms of characters. Well I do plan to make Team Flare a more legitimate threat this time around, and if you're familiar with how I reworked Team Plasma back in CoYS and PoYS, then I'm sure you'll like the end results. And regarding mega stones and mega rings, while the story will answer it for me, I'll just say that this takes place after all the other series, including ORAS, so yes, megas do exist outside of Kalos. I personally like mega evolutions. They give forgotten mons life and a second chance at stardom (see kangaskhan and mawile), and further improve a popular mon that needed a much needed upgrade (see charizard and gengar).

 **Defender31415:** Yeah Calem is pretty strong, but then again compared to the cast so far, he would appear like that. There's still like 3/4s of the region to explore, not counting the fact that I may or may not be including people outside the region...

 **zeffron42:** Well, it wasn't exactly a stroke of genius to change the protagonist from a confident male to a nervous wreck of a female. Hell that's the most obvious deviation one would do. And everyone doesn't hate Calem, only Shauna, while Tierno and Trevor are somewhat uneasy with him, while Serena internally praises the man like a god. Besides, the man thinks way ahead of plans, which is why he took an interest in Serena (whether that's for morally 'right' reasons or not is up to everyone to determine after this chapter). Also why should he care about Shauna? He pretty much showed that he doesn't care about her at all. And the eye-part back in the last chapter, while weird to some, like you apparently, is meant to show that Calem is NOT a happy person, only taking interest in things he finds 'interesting'. Besides it was made pretty obvious back in the 1st chapter that Calem thinks of Serena differently, and doesn't really care about the others. And giving Rill to Serena was obvious? Well, no shit. I wanted to give Serena a marill, so I just made a plot point that fits in smoothly.

Fix the movesets? Well what do you want me to do about it? Do you want me to make them overpowered to the point that it's just unfair for Serena? What, you want me to give Grant (next gym leader) Tyrantrum with Rock Head Head Smash, Outrage, Dragon Dance, and Earthquake and let it rip through poor Serena's team while Aurorus is sitting in the back with Refrigerate Hyper Voice? That's just not fair. Serena would actually have no chance. And it's not like you offer any suggestions on how to 'fix it', anyways.

Or what, you want me to make them weaker? Well where's the fun in that? I think the current set up is balanced enough: much stronger than the in-game teams, yet not too strong to the point of it being unfair.

* * *

The sun was shining brightly down upon Route 4. Serena felt giddy as she stared at her new badge, polishing it so that it stayed shiny and glistening. She couldn't help it. Her first badge. Her very first badge that she earned herself in spite of the hardships she had to endure in her gym battle against Viola. She had earned it. It was a huge step forward to her goal.

"My first badge..." Serena said, before giggling. "It's still kinda surreal...thinking I would be able to hold this in my hand."

Besides her, Marisso and Rill glanced up to their trainer, who kneeled down to them.

"And it's all thanks to your hard work, Marisso, Rill," Serena said happily. "I couldn't have done it without you two."

"-You deserve it, Serena!-" Marisso smiled.

"-You were pretty good out there,-" Rill agreed.

"Alright! Let's get stronger and stronger!" Serena exclaimed.

"SHH! SHH! SHH!" Shauna shushed Serena, forcibly placing her finger on Serena's mouth to shut her up. "Be quiet Seré!"

Serena glanced at Shauna confusedly, before noting the small pink feline Pokémon with a stumpy body and four short legs, minding its own business.

"Are you trying to catch that Pokémon?" Serena asked.

"Yes!" Shauna replied in a hushed tone as she gripped her pokédex in her hand. "I mean look at it! It's so adorable! It NEEDS to be on my team! I don't care if it's absolute garbage in a fight! I MUST HAVE IT! For that to happen, I need ABSOLUTE SILENCE!"

"Uh...Shauna..." Serena mumbled. "I think you're a lot louder than me right now..."

Shauna looked at Serena, before glancing back to the cat. Said feline was staring straight at her curiously. A good moment of silence stood, before Shauna released Kinniekins in front of the feline.

"Let's go, Kinniekins!" Shauna exclaimed, seemingly ignoring Serena's statement and the previous awkward moment.

"-Wha? We're gonna battle?-" the feline asked.

"-Apparently,-" Kinniekins replied nonchalantly. "-Sorry if I leave any nasty burns.-"

"Alright Kinniekins, Ember!" Shauna yelled.

As Kinniekins spewed a stream of embers at the feline who jumped back, Serena shrugged, before focusing back onto her badge with Marisso and Rill. Trevor, having watched the charade, instead decided to scan the kitten Shauna was determined to capture with his own pokédex.

"Skitty, the kitten Pokémon. It shows its cute side by chasing its own tail until it gets dizzy."

"And one, and two!"

Trevor glanced to another patch of yellow flowers, where Tierno was focused on overseeing Corphish practicing a dance routine along with Fletchling and another small, green bipedal rosebud-like Pokémon. Corphish was leading, balancing on one of his claws before proceeding to spin on it. Fletchling was trying to replicate the same move with his wing in midair with moderate success, while the rosebud-like Pokémon was blissfully spinning around on one of its stubby legs, before switching to the other leg whenever Corphish decided to switch to the other claw.

"Mhm, you've got a nice sense of rhythem there," Tierno complimented the rosebud.

"-Thank you!-" the rosebud chirped.

"You seem to enjoy dancing," Tierno told the rosebud. "Interested in joining up with my team?"

"-Huh?-" the rosebud tilted its body. "-Join your team?-"

"Yeah," Tierno nodded. "I'm Tierno. I'm aiming to make the best Pokémon dancing troupe. I can sense potential in you. If you'd like, you could become a part of that troupe, and become an even better dancer."

"-Really?-" the rosebud gasped.

"So would you like to come with us?" Tierno asked nicely, taking out a pokéball and presenting it to the bud.

The rosebud nodded enthusiastically, before hitting the button and allowing the pokéball to absorb the Pokémon in a red light. The red light went back into the pokéball, shook three times, before flashing slightly, indicating the successful capture. Smiling, Tierno released the rosebud into the open once more.

"Alright then, welcome aboard," Tierno smiled.

"-Aight then!-" Corphish exclaimed jovially, walking over to the rosebud and smacking her by the back unintentionally roughly and toppling her over. "-Welcome aboard, buddy!-"

"-Don't be too rough on her,-" Fletchling chastised, before helping the rosebud up apologetically. "-Don't mind him, he means well. He just doesn't know how to control his own strength.-"

"-Hey I resent that!-" Corphish yelled.

As Tierno and the others familiarized themselves with their new team member, Trevor decided to scan the rosebud.

"Budew, the bud Pokémon. Over the winter, it closes its bud and endures the cold. In spring, the bud opens and releases pollen."

Trevor checked the data, before scrolling through the rest of the data he obtained.

"And that should be the last one," Trevor noted as his flabébé floated up beside him, while his pikachu nuzzled his leg. "Although..."

Trevor glanced at Tierno, who was busy dancing along with his new team. He then glanced over to Shauna, who threw a pokéball at the skitty as the feline went down from Kinniekin's Confusion. And finally, he glanced over to Serena, who was too busy gawking over her new badge along with her two Pokémon. The boy was by himself, scanning every living Pokémon in the vicinity of the route.

"I wonder if I'm the only one who's taking completing the pokédex seriously..." Trevor mumbled to no one in particular.

"-They're all having their fun,-" Pikachu offered. "-Let them be, Trevor.-"

"-Yes, but I do wish they take the pokédex a bit more seriously,-" Flabébé sighed.

"-Oh lighten up, sweetcheeks,-" Pikachu snickered, causing the fairy to blush somewhat.

"Oh great, I picked up a flirtatious pikachu," Trevor sighed.

As Trevor sighed and looked around for anymore Pokémon to scan, Serena finally took her attention away from her shiny new badge, alerting Marisso and Rill to get up.

"Alright," Serena pumped her fists. "Time to train some more. And maybe catch a new friend."

Marisso and Rill nodded in enthusiasm and began to look around, searching for an opponent to fight. Marisso looked around, until spotting something in the horde of red flowers nearby. It was a small, bipedal orange reptilian Pokémon with a long tail that had a small fire on the end, sleeping on the ground hugging its tail surrounded by the flowers.

"-Wait that's...-" Marisso mumbled.

"Did you find something, Marisso?" Serena asked as she and Rill regrouped with the small Grass-type.

Marisso looked up to her trainer, before pointing to the reptilian sleeping in the flowers.

"Huh?" Serena asked, before taking out her pokédex and scanning the Pokémon in question. "Is that a charmander?"

"Charmander, the lizard Pokémon. The flame on its tail indicates Charmander's life force. If it's healthy, the flame burns brightly."

"Is something the matter, Serena?" Trevor asked, walking up to her.

"Yeah," Serena said, pointing to the sleeping charmander. "Do charmanders live here?"

"A charmander?" Trevor asked, glancing to the sleeping lizard, before bugging out. "What the–?! What's a charmander doing here?!"

"So I'm guessing no?" Serena asked as Trevor did his own scan on the charmander.

"Yes, charmanders shouldn't be here," Trevor answered. "So what's this one doing here?"

As Charmander snoozed off, he rolled on the other side, bringing the flame on its tail to the flowers, and lighting them on fire.

"Oh no!" Serena gasped as all the other flowers became ablaze.

Charmander woke up to see the patch of flowers burning and began to freak out.

"-Woah!?-" Charmander screeched, freaking out and running around.

"Rill, Water Gun, quickly!" Serena cried out.

Frantically, Rill sprayed the burning flowers with a Water Gun, dousing them before they could spread to anything else. Once the flames were dealt with, Rill stopped, spotting Charmander coughing from the steam produced from the extinguished flames.

"That was close," Trevor sighed as Serena went over to the charmander.

"Are you alright?" Serena asked Charmander.

The lizard looked up to her, before nodding.

"That's good," Serena sighed in relief, before giving Charmander a disapproving look. "But that was close. You should be more careful next time. If we didn't happen to be here, then who knows how much more the fire could've spread. You should thank Rill over here for getting rid of the fire."

"-S-Sorry...-" Charmander mumbled in shame, looking down to the ground, before glancing at Rill. "-Thank you for saving the day...-"

"-Well at least nothing else happened,-" Rill huffed.

"-Are you alright, Charmander?-" Marisso asked him.

Charmander looked up to Marisso and his eyes widened, recognizing the hedgehog.

"-Chespin? Is that you?-" Charmander asked.

"-I knew it was you,-" Marisso sighed.

"You know him?" Serena asked Marisso, who nodded in response.

"Wait, if Marisso recognizes this charmander..." Trevor muttered. "Could it be...?"

"Trevor?" Serena asked.

"There's a good chance this charmander belongs to Professor Sycamore," Trevor explained. "It would explain why Marisso recognizes Charmander."

"Is that right?" Serena asked, before glancing at Charmander, who nodded in response. "So then what're you doing out here?"

"-I kinda...wandered off when the professor wasn't looking,-" Charmander admitted sheepishly.

"-He must be worried sick then,-" Marisso muttered.

"-Right...I didn't think of that...-" Charmander mumbled.

"-Hmph! You shouldn't have strayed away from your owner in the first place!-" Rill scolded Charmander.

"We should take him back to him then," Trevor suggested. "We're heading to his laboratory anyways."

"Right," Serena agreed, before glancing over to Charmander. "Is that alright with you?"

Charmander looked up to the girl, before nodding in agreement.

"Alright then," Serena smiled. "Let's take you back to Professor Sycamore."

Charmander stared at Serena somewhat dreamily, before dumbly nodding in response.

"Seré! Seré!" Shauna exclaimed, running up to her holding the skitty in her arms with Kinniekins running up beside her trainer. "Look what I caught!"

"Hey, you caught the skitty! That's great!" Serena congratulated Shauna.

"Yep!" Shauna smiled. "Meet our new friend, Kitkat!"

Skitty, or now Kitkat, meowed happily in response.

"Isn't she just a cutie pie?" Shauna gushed at the pink kitten.

"Yeah, she is," Serena admitted.

"What's going on over here?" Tierno decided to join the group, his new budew standing on his shoulder on one leg. "Whoa, where did you get that charmander?"

"The charmander belongs to Professor Sycamore," Trevor explained. "So Serena and I were planning on taking him back there."

"Sounds like a plan," Tierno nodded, before noticing the burnt garden of flowers. "Whoa! What happened there?"

"Wait...you didn't notice that a garden caught on fire?" Trevor asked incredulously.

"Really? Something caught on fire?" Shauna asked.

"...So...you two didn't notice any screaming? Or panicking? Or burnt flowers...?" Serena asked.

Shauna and Tierno stared at them confusedly, before shaking their heads at the response. The two were too absorbed in their new party members to have noticed a charmander accidently setting a field of flowers on fire. Serena and Trevor shared some incredulous glances, before moving on.

"Forget about it then," Trevor said as Flabébé and Pikachu followed him.

"C'mon Charmander," Serena said as she along with her Pokémon followed her. Charmander stared back, before following her dutifully.

Tierno and Shauna looked at each other, before shrugging and following Serena and Trevor.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the grand city of Lumiose, one lone man was working away in his laboratory. Sighing, the man decided to take a break, glancing down towards the small green quadruped Pokémon and blue turtle as they had a worried look on their faces. The man couldn't blame them; their friend had disappeared while he wasn't looking. He had sent his assistants to look for the lost Pokémon, but he couldn't help but worry.

His nagging worrying took a complete 180 as he heard the elevator sound, informing them that someone has arrived to his humble abode. Giving himself a quick prep, he waltzed over to the elevator to greet his new guest.

"Welcome to my laboratory, mademoiselles–!" the man boisterously greeted the new visitor, only to be greeted by Calem's fist.

The adult comically flew into a bunch of boxes as Calem sighed in relief, shocking Froakie while Blaziken shook his head as Calem proceeded in like nothing happened at all.

"So you were expecting a girl, you damn lech," Calem sneered.

"Ow...That wasn't very nice, Calem..." the man groaned in pain, until Calem grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. "What did I do this time?"

"Oh how about telling me to move out of the laboratory, make me go buy a house all the way out to goddamn Vaniville of all places, and the proceeding to call me back here as soon as I finish moving house after I made the trek all the way there," Calem growled. "

"Oh you're still sour about that?" he asked.

"Goddamn it, Sycamore," Calem grumbled as he let go of Sycamore. "At least let me know in advance before I move fucking house."

"Haha, sorry about that," Sycamore laughed as he tidied himself up. "Although I'm surprised you managed to get here so quickly."

"Your letter had enough incentive," Calem simply stated.

"I see," Sycamore nodded as he went over to organize some files. "So, I assume you'll be taking this opportunity?"

"Of course," Calem practically growled. "I've been waiting for this for so long."

"So I assume you have a game plan then?" Sycamore asked.

"It's still in progress, but more or less," Calem simply replied.

"And you already planned out a team? A team where a _hydreigon_ doesn't fit in? You know normal trainers would be ecstatic if they managed to catch a pseudo-legendary like a hydreigon."

"Well I'm not a normal trainer, am I? Speaking of which, how is the one I sent over to you? It hasn't been causing you trouble, has it?"

"Oh no," Sycamore laughed. "Sure it tried to eat me, but my assistant managed to discipline it."

Froakie arched his eyebrow in curiosity, before casting a glance at Blaziken and was surprised to see the Fire-type veteran shudder slightly at the mention of the professor's 'assistant'.

"That's good," Calem nodded, before noticing the two smaller Pokémon near Sycamore. "Hm?"

Calem kneeled down to the two tykes, before scanning them with his pokédex.

"Bulbasaur, the seed Pokémon. For some time after its birth, it grows by gaining nourishment from the seed on its back."

"Squirtle, the tiny turtle Pokémon. Shoots water at prey while in the water. Withdraws into its shell when in danger."

"...Where's Charmander?" Calem asked Sycamore.

"Ah yes...that..." Sycamore muttered. "Charmander decided to sneak out of the lab when I was busy and couldn't pay attention to them."

"So there's a starting Pokémon possibly roaming around Lumiose like a lost lamb?" Calem asked, crossing his arms disapprovingly.

"I have Sina and Dexio currently looking for them," Sycamore replied as he began to reorganize the boxes that got messed up. "Hopefully they'll find him before something happens."

Calem shrugged, before helping Sycamore clean up the mess that he himself caused. As he picked up some boxes, he noticed Bulbasaur and Squirtle staring at him as he worked, before Froakie got their attention.

"...Another set of starters...huh..." Calem randomly remarked as he continued cleaning up.

* * *

"So this little guy burned down an entire garden of flowers?" Shauna asked in disbelief.

"Well, yeah," Serena said, picking up Charmander in her arms. "I mean his tail is on fire for crying out loud."

"How come we didn't notice it then?" Tierno asked.

"Well you were too engrossed in your newest dance member," Trevor pointed to him and his budew, before pointing to Shauna and skitty. "And you were too busy catching that skitty–."

"Kitkat," Shauna insisted.

"Kitkat," Trevor repeated himself. "So you two were too engrossed in your own things that you failed to notice a fire going on. Sounds about right I guess."

As they approached the gate to Lumiose, two people passed by them, bumping into Serena as they passed her.

"Sorry about that," one of them said.

"No, it's alright," Serena said as she walked by.

Passing by, Serena and her group continued their way to Lumiose, until they heard a loud 'WAIT' from behind, and the two ended up rushing towards her.

"You!" they both exclaimed.

"WAAA?! Uh, hi?" Serena panicked.

Upon closer look, the two were a light-skinned boy with short blonde hair and blue eyes, and a tan-skinned girl with green eyes and short purplish black hair that curled to the ends. They were both wearing similar white-beige uniforms; the only differences being the boy wearing pants as opposed to the girl wearing a skirt, and the boy had a blue ribbon tied around his collar, while the girl had a red one.

"That charmander...where did you find him?" the girl demanded.

"Uh...he was out in the route, and we saved it after he accidently burned down a garden," Serena timidly explained, still spooked by the sudden turn of events.

"I see..." the boy muttered, before noticing Marisso and Kinniekins. "Wait...are you four perhaps the dex-holders under Professor Sycamore's care?"

"Ah yes," Tierno intervened. "May I ask who you two are?"

"Ah, pardon," the boy said. "I am Dexio. I am one of Professor Sycamore's assistants."

"And I am Sina," the girl introduced herself. "A beautiful name for a beautiful lady, is it not?"

Serena and Tierno simply silently chuckled nervously, while Trevor, Shauna and Dexio rolled their eyes at Sina's apparent ego.

"Anyways, thank you for finding Charmander," Dexio showed his gratitude. "He wandered off while Professor had his hands tied with a certain matter, so we were sent to go look for him."

"Figured..." Trevor mumbled.

"Oh?" Sina let out, noting Flabébé next to Trevor. "I see you have yourself a flabébé!"

Flabébé looked up to the girl curiously, backing away slightly from her.

"Flabébé is–now brace yourself–a Fairy-type Pokémon!" Sina explained.

' _We knew that already,'_ Trevor rolled his eyes.

"Fairy-type is a new type of Pokémon that was just classified recently," Dexio explained. "Although there is evidence that may prove that Fairy-type may have existed many years back in Hoe–."

"This turned the entire type-matchup system on its head!" Sina interrupted. "Giving competitive trainers nosebleeds since one was documented to have taken a Draco Meteor like nothing at all!"

Serena, Tierno and Shauna all gave her a rather surprised look, while Dexio and Trevor simply stared at the girl in disbelief; the blonde shaking his head while Trevor rolled his eyes again, having already known the information and having taught his friends that beforehand.

"Anyways," Dexio coughed. "We've been battling Fairy-type Pokémon against other types of Pokémon to determine what they're strong and weak to at Professor Sycamore's request."

"I see..." Serena said.

"Among other new Pokémon, certain existing Pokémon have also been reclassified as Fairy-type upon further research and investigation," Sina said, glancing down to Rill. "Like your marill for example. It was previously a pure Water-type, but it's also part Fairy-type as well."

Rill looked up, before giving Sina a rather suspicious glare. The water mouse didn't seem to like her that much.

"Well then, now that everything's out of the way," Sina continued. "And we confirmed that Charmander's safe, we'll be heading back to the lab. Would you like us to take you there? Since we're all headed there, might as well go together."

"I don't see why not," Serena agreed on the behalf of her group.

"Alright then, let's go," Dexio nodded, before he and Sina headed back into the gate.

The four ended up following them through the gate, and reaching Kalos' ever famous metropolis; Lumiose City.

"Wow..." Serena said, marveling at the sheer size of the city.

"Home sweet home, I guess," Trevor said.

"Right, you live here," Tierno pointed out.

"Yeah," Trevor said. "Maybe I should go visit Sis before I leave..."

"C'mon! Let's go, let's go!" Shauna exclaimed excitedly, following Sina and Dexio.

"I guess Shauna's pretty ecstatic to meet Professor Sycamore," Serena giggled as she followed her.

The four followed Dexio and Sina as they led them to a large building; Professor Sycamore's lab.

"And here we are," Dexio said as he opened the door, leading them in.

Everyone walked into the main lobby, the smaller Pokémon walking in and looking around the place curiously.

"This is the Professor's lab?" Shauna asked.

"Of course not," Dexio chuckled. "It's up on the third floor."

"Hello? Professor?" Sina used the lobby desk phone to contact the man. "...Yes, we found Charmander. We also found the dex holders. ...Of course."

Sina put down the phone, before turning to the four rookies with a smile.

"The Professor seems to be open right now," Sina informed them. "The fifth dex holder seems to be there with him already."

"The fifth...?" Serena asked, before figuring out who it was. "...Calem...?"

The two assistants led the four to the elevator that stood next to the lobby desk and rode it until they reached the third floor. Upon exiting the elevator, Dexio and Sina walked out first.

"We're back Professor," Sina announced.

"And we brought the remaining dex holders and Charmander," Dexio announced.

The others followed in suit, walking into the small lab filled with boxes and computers. In the middle of the lab was a man with black, wavy hair and wearing a lab coat over a blue collared shirt. To their surprise, they found Calem with Froakie, tending to two smaller Pokémon; Serena recognized them as Bulbasaur and Squirtle. The man noticed the four kids, before sporting a jovial smirk.

"So! We finally meet!" Professor Sycamore greeted.

* * *

"So you're Professor Sycamore?" Serena asked as they all gathered around the professor.

"Yes indeed," Sycamore smiled. "Professor Augustine Sycamore at your service. Many thanks for coming all the way from Vaniville Town! It's a pleasure to finally meet you all!"

"It's nice to finally meet you too, Professor!" Shauna replied excitedly. "And thank you for Kinniekins and the pokédex!"

"Quite the energetic one, we have here, eh?" Sycamore chuckled. "I'm gonna assume that Kinniekins is the fennekin?"

Kinniekins looked up and nodded in confirmation, before all the other Pokémon gathered up towards the professor.

"My, what a crowd we have here!" Sycamore commented. "You all have been very busy in spite of the short time your journey has begun. Now let's see here..."

The man kneeled down to examine all the Pokémon. The Pokémon in question stared back curiously.

"Hm...fletchling...pikachu...budew...ooh corphish and scyther...and a marill...!" Sycamore muttered to himself. "That's some rare Pokémon to come across so early on. May I ask who owns the marill?"

"Uh...that would be me..." Serena mumbled, picking up Rill with Marisso and Charmander gathered around her legs.

"Hm...Are you perhaps Serena Yvonne?" Sycamore asked.

"Yes, that would be me," Serena nodded.

"I see...so you're Grace Yvonne's daughter..." Sycamore mused. "And I should assume you're the one who found little Charmander, judging from how he's clinging onto you?"

"Ah, yes...I just happened to find him while we were training in Route 4," Serena explained.

"I see...well, you have my gratitude for finding Charmander," Sycamore thanked her.

"You know Seré's mom?" Shauna asked.

"Of course! Grace Yvonne is Kalos's top Rhyhorn Racer after all," Sycamore replied. "It happened to be one of the reasons why I picked her to wield one of the pokédexes after all."

"I-I see..." Serena mumbled somewhat despondently.

"Oh, and I hear that you defeated Viola," Sycamore commented. "And with Chespin, no less. That is an admirable feat! Viola is not a push over after all."

"H-How did you hear that?" Serena asked.

"Calem informed me about it," Sycamore revealed.

"Eh?" Serena asked, glancing to Calem. The boy simply glanced back, before shrugging and closing his eyes.

"I have high hopes for you, Serena," Sycamore complimented the girl. "You can become a great trainer if you keep this up!"

"Y-You think so...?" Serena asked, blushing slightly at the compliment.

"But of course!" Sycamore smiled. "Anyone capable of that kind of feat is destined for great feats!"

"Can we get on with it, Professor?" Calem interrupted sternly.

"Yes, yes, of course," Sycamore sighed. "Now then, there are a few reasons why I wanted you all to rendezvous with me. For one, I wanted to see how you all were doing I your journey so far, along with how your pokédexes were doing. Secondly..."

Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander gathered around the Professor.

"Serena, Calem, and Shauna," Sycamore said. "I would like you all to fight me using the starter Pokémon you got from me."

"Huh?" Shauna asked. "All three of us...fight you...?"

"Don't worry, I'll be using Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle," Sycamore explained. "It'll be a simple mock battle."

Sycamore motioned Calem to join the group, where the boy walked towards them with Froakie in tow, before leading them to another, much bigger room, more likely meant for combat practices. Marisso, Kinniekins and Froakie got in front of their respective trainers, before facing Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle.

"So we're gonna fight the professor..." Serena mumbled, casting a glance at Calem. "...Uh...Calem..."

"Just focus on the battle," Calem simply replied. "Sycamore might not look like it, but he is a powerful and capable battler."

"Really?" Shauna asked somewhat disbelieving.

"He was the one I gave that hydreigon to," Calem said.

"...Oh..." Shauna muttered, realization dawning onto her.

"So he's powerful enough to handle a hydreigon?" Serena paled.

Before Calem can respond, Sycamore clapped his hands, getting their attention.

"Now, now, let's get started," Sycamore said as his starters got in front of him. "Just so you know, they're not that tough."

* * *

"Froakie, Water Pulse!"

Calem started it off as Froakie shot a Water Pulse at Charmander. Bulbasaur got in the way, taking the Water Pulse for Charmander.

"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!"

Bulbasaur extended vines from the pod on its back and shot them at Froakie, but the frog jumped back before they could hit him.

"-Tch!-" Froakie clicked his tongue as he was forced back.

"Leave that one to me!" Shauna declared. "Kinniekins, Ember!"

"Squirtle, intercept with Bubble!"

Kinniekins shot several embers at Bulbasaur, but Squirtle shot a stream of bubbles at the incoming Ember, blasting past them and at Kinniekins. Marisso jumped in front of Kinniekins, shielding her from the Bubble.

"-Agh!-" Marisso winced.

"-Marisso!-" Kinniekins cried.

"Marisso, are you alright?" Serena asked concerned.

Withstanding the Bubble, Marisso looked up to Serena and nodded, leaving Serena to sigh in relief. Charmander saw the exchange, became enraged and lunged at Marisso.

"-What the–?!-" Marisso blurted, blocking a Scratch attack from Charmander.

"No, Charmander get back!" Sycamore cried.

"Water Pulse!"

As Charmander angrily attacked Marisso, Froakie took the opportunity to shoot a Water Pulse at Charmander from behind. The orb of water blasted Charmander, but left Froakie open for Bulbasaur to ensnare him with Vine Whip and smash him into the ground.

"Kinniekins!" Shauna yelled.

Seeing an opening, Kinniekins shot Ember at Bulbasaur, burning the Grass-type and forcing it to let go of Froakie. The frog jumped back, coughing from the dust, while Squirtle jumped in, grabbed Charmander, and jumped back to their side to regroup.

"-Thanks...-" Froakie muttered.

"-No problem. You be a bit more careful,-" Kinniekins said, before checking up on Marisso. "-And are you alright?-"

"-Yeah...-" Marisso muttered. "-Why did he suddenly attack me like that though...? I don't remember Charmander being _that_ aggressive...-"

"-Ten oran berries says he's just jealous,-" Froakie muttered.

"-Jealous? Of what?-" Marisso asked.

* * *

"-It's not fair that Chespin gets her attention like that!-" Charmander complained.

"-B-But Charmander...he's her Pokémon...-" Bulbasaur tried to reason with him. "-Of course he'll get her attention. I mean he has to, or else he won't get any commands.-"

"-Geez guy, calm down,-" Squirtle rolled his eyes. "-We're in the middle of battle; don't let your own jealousy cost us the match.-"

"-But she's pretty! And nice!-" Charmander yelled back.

"-Not now!-" Squirtle grumbled, smacking Charmander upside the head. "-Focus man! Bros before hoes! Bros before hoes! C'mon now buddy.-"

"Come on you three, let's get along here," Sycamore insisted, sensing the tension between Charmander and Squirtle.

Charmander puffed his cheeks in annoyance, Squirtle sighed in disbelief, and Bulbasaur was trying his best to calm them down.

* * *

"-...Yeah, he's jealous alright,-" Froakie deadpanned, seeing the exchange between Charmander and Squirtle. "-Look alive Mar, because he's probably gonna target you for like the entire match.-"

"-Are you kidding me?-" Marisso asked.

"-Well there's no helping that,-" Kinniekins said. "-Tough luck Marisso. We'll try to keep the other two at bay, so try not to faint too quickly.-"

Marisso's jaw just dropped, before sighing. After having his entire being brutally beaten down by that vivillon, he _really_ didn't want to fight another opponent that had the type advantage. But, if it was for Serena's sake, the Grass-type had no choice. Marisso slapped his cheeks, before sporting a determined look.

"What's up with them?" Shauna asked.

"How would I know...?" Serena asked.

"Stay sharp," Calem said sternly. "They're coming!"

"Alright, let's kick things up a notch!" Sycamore announced. "Charmander, Smokescreen!"

Charmander released an obscuring cloud of smoke, filling the area with smoke, obscuring their vision.

"Shit..." Calem muttered as his side looked around, trying to see where Sycamore's side was.

"Vine Whip! Bubble! Ember!"

From different angles, vines, bubbles and embers shot out, nailing Froakie, Kinniekins and Marisso respectively.

"Tch! Water Pulse!" Calem swore.

Froakie growled, before charging a Water Pulse and shooting it in the direction where the Ember was shot, but nothing happened. Instead, another Vine Whip attack was shot at Froakie. Kinniekins tried to shoot down the vines, but she missed, leading to a Bubble attack blasting her.

"We need to deal with this smoke, somehow..." Serena mumbled. "But how...?"

"...Froakie," Calem said, getting the frog's attention. "You think you can pull that new move off?"

The frog nodded in response, before taking a stance as if he was about to wield a sword.

"What's he...?" Shauna asked.

"Aerial Ace!" Calem yelled.

Froakie formed a sword out of energy in his palms, before swiping it furiously; the force of the attack managed to clear the smoke, revealing their foes from their hiding place.

"Now!" Calem yelled as Froakie lunged for Bulbasaur.

"We won't let you hog all the glory!" Shauna declared. "Kinniekins! Psybeam at Squirtle!"

"Marisso! Rollout on Charmander!" Serena yelled.

As Froakie darted for Bulbasaur, Kinniekins shot a peculiar beam at Squirtle, while Marisso rolled into a ball and rolled towards Charmander. The psybeam blasted squirtle back, as Froakie and Marisso charged at Bulbasaur and Charmander. Bulbasaur began to panic from the sudden counterattack, as Froakie flung the blade at the Grass-type, slashing Bulbasaur across its head.

"Charmander, quickly! Dragon Rage!" Sycamore quickly commanded.

Charmander hastily shot a blue shockwave at Marisso, but Marisso managed to power through and crash into the fire lizard. The three Kanto starters fell to the ground, unconscious from the assault.

"Well, I guess that's that," Sycamore sighed, holding his hands up in defeat. "You three are pretty good."

* * *

Marisso, Kinniekins and Froakie fell onto the floor, panting slightly from the battle.

"Thank you," Serena and Shauna said, while Calem simply nodded.

"Wow..." Trevor mumbled, having watched the battle on the sidelines with Tierno. "The Professor's pretty good..."

"Yeah," Tiernoa greed. "If he was just using those three...imagine what he can do with his actual Pokémon..."

"So..." Serena asked. "Now what...?"

"Hm..." Sycamore said as he kneeled down and healed the three starters with some potions in hand. "While you're all exceptional, I feel that one starter may not be enough to explore the vast region of Kalos."

"Wait...does this mean...?" Shauna asked, realizing what Sycamore was implying.

"But of course!" Sycamore exclaimed. "I would like you three to take one of these starters with you on your journey!"

Everyone looked up, as Sycamore's starters looked up in surprise.

"-Wait, so we're going with them now?-" Charmander asked.

"-Seems like it...-" Bulbasaur mumbled timidly.

"-Well it's better than lounging around here all day,-" Squirtle shrugged.

"Now then," Sycamore said. "Serena, Calem, Shauna. Which one would you like to take?"

The three trainers glanced down to the set of small Pokémon in front of Sycamore, the trio glancing back at them curiously.

"Hm...Which one should I–?" Serena mumbled, contemplating on which one she should pick.

"Well if anyone's not picking, then I'll pick mine!" Shauna announced, interrupting Serena's thought process. "And I pick Squirtle!"

The turtle looked up, before shrugging at the response. The tan-skinned girl went over and picked up Squirtle, before smothering it into her chest in a strong embrace.

"So you pick Squirtle, I see," Sycamore mused.

"Uh huh! This little guy's just so cute!" Shauna exclaimed, before tightening the embrace. "I'm Shauna. We're gonna have so much fun together Squirts!"

"-Geh–worth,-" Squirtle, now Squirts, sniggered to himself as he enjoyed the embrace directly into his new trainer's chest.

"And what about you two?" Sycamore asked Serena and Calem.

Serena glanced down to see which one she should pick, but Calem went first, walking up to Charmander and Bulbasaur, who stepped back slightly. Bulbasaur looked somewhat intimidated by the boy, unease evident in its red eyes, while Charmander kept shooting glances at Serena, while looking at Calem wearily.

"Hmph, so you'd rather be with her," Calem snickered. "Fine by me. I wasn't going to pick you anyways."

As Charmander shot him a surprised, yet angry glare, Calem kneeled down to Bulbasaur.

"I pick you," Calem said.

Bulbasaur looked surprised as he stared up to Calem's stoic expression. He would pick him, when Charmander's right there? He was the stronger, the faster, and the more agile of the two so why would he pick himself over Charmander? The Grass-type glanced over to Froakie, who simply shrugged in response.

"Huh? You pick Bulbasaur?" Serena asked.

"Do you have a problem with my pick?" Calem asked.

"Ah–No, not at all!" Serena quickly sputtered. "I was just wonder and all...I mean Charmander is faster and more mobile than Bulbasaur and all..."

"Why would I pick a Fire-type?" Calem asked. "I already have Blaziken; not to mention I also have a Water-type in Froakie. Bulbasaur is the only logical choice here in the matter."

"Well when you put it like that..." Serena mumbled.

"Besides," Calem said, glancing down at the small lizard. "It would seem that he would rather go with you than with me."

"Huh? Really?" Serena asked, genuinely surprised, before glancing down at Charmander. "Is that true?"

Charmander shot up to the girl and nodded enthusiastically. Smiling, Serena petted Charmander on the head, causing the lizard to wag his tail happily.

"Alright then," she said. "Hm...What to call you now..."

Serena tilted her head as she contemplated silently, before inspiration came to her mind.

"How about 'Salamé'?" Serena suggested, leading to vigorous nodding from the enthusiastic lizard. "Alright then, I'm Serena. Let's work together from now on, Salamé."

Charmander–now Salamé, smiled eagerly, happy to have been chosen by her. Marisso walked over to the lizard, before the two slapped each other's palms in a high five motion.

"Now then, since you chose your second starters," Sycamore said, rummaging through his pocket and taking out three stones. "I'll present you with these!"

The professor walked over to the trio, handing the clear stone with the blue and brown swirl crystallized in it to Shauna, the bluish green stone with the green, red and pink swirl crystallized in it to Calem, and the last one, the orange stone with the red, yellow and orange swirl crystallized in it to Serena.

"What're these, Professor?" Shauna asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Sycamore smiled. "What I gave to the three of you are Mega Stones."

"Mega Stones?" Serena asked.

"Yes, Mega Stones," Sycamore smiled. "Now, what would you say if I told you that some fully-evolved Pokémon can evolve even further?"

"Evolve even further?" Trevor asked. "Like if say Calem's Blaziken for example could evolve even further?"

Calem raised an eyebrow at the orange-haired boy, before glancing back at Sycamore, who merely grinned.

"Indeed," Sycamore said. "There are some Pokémon that can evolve even further in battle, resulting in vehement increases in the Pokémon's abilities, power and prowess. There are cases where the Pokémon changes their type to another type, they gain a new sub-typing, and there's even a case where the Pokémon loses their sub-typing."

"Wow..." Serena said in awe.

"While it was initially theorized to only take place in Kalos," Sycamore went on. "There have been past cases of Mega Evolution taking place in regions such as Hoenn, and even Unova. And thus is why I gave you three the Mega Stones."

Serena and Shauna glanced at the stones in their hands curiously.

"Shauna has the 'Blastoisinite', which Mega Evolves Blastoise to Mega Blastoise, Calem has the 'Venusaurite', which Mega Evolves Venusaur to Mega Venusaur, and Serena has the 'Charizardite Y', which Mega Evolves Charizard into Mega Charizard Y," Sycamore explained. "Those Mega Stones are the key necessary for a Pokémon to Mega Evolve, along with a Key Stone and an appropriate catalyst, a 'Mega' item. They can be in the form of many common accessories."

"That sounds cool!" Shauna squealed. "Can we get one of those Key Stones and Mega thingies?"

"Unfortunately, I don't have one to spare on me," Sycamore admitted sheepishly, earning a dejected sigh from Shauna. "However, I do know where you can get one."

"Where?" Tierno asked.

"All of you should head to Shalour City," Sycamore suggested. "The Mega Evolution Guru lives there, and is the main overseer of Mega Evolutions of the region."

"Shalour City, got it," Serena nodded, before noticing something. "Um, Professor? You said that I had Charizardite Y, and it Mega Evolves Charizard into Mega Charizard 'Y'. Does that mean there's another version of Mega Charizard?"

"My, quite perceptive, are we," Sycamore grinned. "You are absolutely correct, Serena! Research has uncovered that there are two Mega Stones for Charizard, Charizardite Y and Charizardite X. Both Mega Evolve Charizard into their respective Mega Evolved forms: Mega Charizardite Y, and Mega Charizard X."

"Wow..." Serena gasped, glancing down at Salamé, who would eventually become a charizard. "So if I can get both versions...could I possibly be able to Mega Evolve Salamé into both forms?"

"While there's a limit in that only one Pokémon can Mega Evolve during combat," Sycamore said. "If you obtain the other Charizardite, then you would have both Mega Forms at your disposal. That would give you even more fire power."

Well, Serena knew what she would do now. She would find the other Charizardite. It would certainly help her get much stronger. The girl smiled as she looked at her current roster: Marisso the Chespin, Rill the Marill, and now Salamé the Charmander. So far, so good.

"Now then, before you all leave, some words of encouragement for all of you," Sycamore said. "Be the best trainer you can be! At the same time, remember to have fun traveling with your Pokémon!"

"Yes Professor!" everyone sans Calem replied heartily.

"Good! Then you're all dismissed!" Sycamore nodded. "Make sure to keep in touch. Oh and Calem, would you mind staying behind?"

Calem nodded as the others began to leave with their Pokémon. As Serena left, she noticed the black bracelet on Calem's, and the rather lustrous stone embedded into it.

' _Huh...what a pretty stone...'_ Serena thought to herself as she followed the others into the elevator.

* * *

As the elevator went down, Calem glanced at Sycamore, who sighed and took a seat on a nearby chair.

"Are you sure you should've done that?" Sycamore asked.

"Pray tell, what did I do exactly?" Calem asked.

"Oh please," Sycamore scoffed. "You know what."

Calem grunted in irritation as he reached into his pocket and took out another Mega Stone that was blue with a blue, dark blue and black swirl crystallized in it.

"Do you honestly expect me to trust her with this?" Calem asked. "You read the reports."

Sycamore's expression became grim as he remembered what the report found.

"There were several cases of trainers having been killed by their Mega Charizard X during the initial Mega Evolution, which also resulted in all the charizards whom murdered their trainer being euthanized by the Kalos League as a result," Sycamore muttered. "In all the reports, that specific Charizardite X is directly linked to all of them. In fact, that stone has been returned to this lab ever since the first trainer got killed."

Calem eyed the Mega Stone, while Froakie and Bulbasaur looked up curiously at the stone.

"The only theory I can come up with is that the shift in the charizard's DNA from Flying-type to Dragon-type produces a sharp rise in animosity in their behavior, along with the increase in their overall potential," Sycamore said. "But I highly doubt that's the case. There've been several Mega Ampharos trainers who never had such a problem, even in their beginning phases."

"But then again ampharos were never known for their aggressive nature," Calem pointed out. "While charizards are much better known for their bloodthirsty and prideful nature"

"And there's the fact that it's this specific stone that's to blame," Sycamore sighed. "The stone might as well be cursed or something."

Calem still eyed the stone along with Froakie and Bulbasaur.

"...You're still planning on giving it to her once she can Mega Evolve her Pokémon, aren't you?" Sycamore asked in disbelief.

"She does have the Y variant," Calem said. "If she does achieve the ability to Mega Evolve and control her charizard, then perhaps she could control this."

"Even after hearing the report that I just summarized, you still plan on leaving Serena with a Mega Stone that has a history of causing charizards to go berserk and kill their trainer," Sycamore drawled. "And now you're banking on the chance that she somehow becomes skilled enough to wield Mega Evolution and have her try to use a potentially 'defective' Mega Stone."

"You make it sound like I'm a bad person," Calem said in mock hurt.

"I'm saying you should consider her wellbeing as well with your war plan," Sycamore grumbled.

"Of course," Calem said matter-of-factly. "If things go south, then I'll intervene and stop it. Otherwise this will make her stronger."

Sycamore didn't look too relieved, although he said nothing more of that. Instead, he decided to offer the boy some advice.

"You seemed to have planned out, but you should be careful with it all," Sycamore said. "Not everything will go according to plan."

"...Understood," Calem leered at the professor, before recalling his Pokémon and heading out through the back door, before stopping. "Oh, and Professor...you should really clean up your lab more often. It's not good for your health."

Sycamore perked up, before smiling. "Yes, yes, of course. You stay in touch, you here?"

Calem nodded, before leaving. Sycamore sighed as he glanced over to the files he was looking over before they all got here.

"Figures he would have things planned out this far the moment they decided to show up," Sycamore sighed. "I got to give him credit though, he's really motivated, in spite of that cold expression of his. I wonder how Serena would react if she saw his more 'passionate' side."

Sycamore chuckled to himself, before sporting a bitter smile as he sighed.

"I do hope you know what you're doing, Calem," Sycamore muttered. "And I do hope you realize..."

"People aren't weapons."

* * *

As Serena and the other three exited the building, they saw many people starting to gather around a nearby café.

"Huh? What's going on?" Serena asked.

"Did you hear? Diantha's visiting Café Soleil!"

"Seriously!? C'mon dude, let's go visit!"

Two people rushed over to the aforementioned café, along with several other people.

"Diantha...?" Serena mumbled, tilting her head slightly.

"Oh my god. You mean _THE_ Diantha?! The famous movie star!?" Shauna gasped.

"I guess...?" Serena asked.

"We have to go see her. And get autographs. Now," Shauna declared.

"Wait, but what about–?" Serena asked, but Shauna interrupted her by grabbing her arm, and dashing towards the café.

"NO EXCEPTIONS SERÉ!" Shauna yelled as she dragged her away. "FANGASM TO THE MAAAAAAX!"

"Shauna wai–WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?" Serena screamed as she was taken away against her own free will.

"...Do they even know where the café is?" Tierno asked.

"I'm pretty sure the giant crowd is a good enough indicator," Trevor shrugged as the two boys followed after the two girls.

It didn't take too long for them to catch up, as the giant crowd gathering around a certain café was a dead giveaway. Tierno and Trevor spotted Shauna trying to muscle her way through the crowd while carrying Serena by the arm like a rag doll.

"Shauna~! Can you at least let go of me!?" Serena asked.

"What?! Don't you want to see Diantha?!" Shauna yelled back.

"I'd rather not get crushed by the crowd!" Serena whined.

In spite of her protests, Shauna powered her way through the crowd, dragging poor Serena with her, until they managed to break through, and both fell face flat to the ground into the café from the force of pushing through the massive crowd.

"Ow..." Serena mumbled. "Shauna..."

"Sorry...but it was necessary..." Shauna mumbled.

"Why is it necessary by the way?"

Serena started to get up, but she saw a hand being offered to her. She looked up to see a pale man, with blue eyes and with pointed red hair and beard, wearing a black suit lined in red, black dress shoes and a pair of black fingerless gloves.

"Are you alright, jeune fille?" the man asked in a kind tone.

"A-Ah...yes..." Serena stuttered as she accepted the hand.

The man helped Serena up, before proceeding to help Shauna up as well.

"You two are very brave to power through a crowd like that," the man commented. "Although I would advise against doing something like that again."

The two girls looked confused, until they heard a low growl from behind. The two jumped and turned around to see a quadruped, leonine Pokémon with a large, dominantly red mane with gold streaks growling menacingly at them.

"There, there, Pyroar," the man calmed the Pokémon down. "These two mean no harm."

The lion, Pyroar, glanced at the man, before shooting a glare at the two girls, before proceeding to return to his post, which was seemingly to keep the crowd from entering the café. Getting out of her stupor, Serena took out her pokédex and proceeded to scan Pyroar.

"Pyroar, the royal Pokémon. The male with the largest mane of fire is the leader of the pride."

"So it's a male...?" Serena asked.

"The pokédex..." the man commented. "Could you two perhaps be the children chosen by Professor Sycamore?"

"Huh? Uh yes..." Serena said.

"You know the professor?" Shauna asked.

"We are old acquaintances," the man chuckled. "I am Lysandre. Sycamore and I used to be colleagues, until he went on to become Kalos's regional Pokémon Professor and I went to start Lysandre Labs. You both happen to have Holo Casters, would you?"

"Well, yes..." Serena replied, as she and Shauna took theirs out.

"Wonderful!" Lysandre exclaimed. "Lysandre Labs was the company who developed the Holo Caster."

"Really?" Shauna asked.

"Indeed," Lysandre smiled. "Knowledge is power, after all. Put it to good use."

"Oh, and aren't you forgetting someone, Lysandre?" another more feminine voice interrupted.

Everyone turned to see another figure, sitting at a table nearby. It was a woman with short light brown hair designed in a somewhat star pattern, with light blue eyes and violet eyeshadow, wearing a fairy-like white outfit with lots of gold trim, and possessed a pendant with a stone in it. Accompanying her was a white bipedal Pokémon with a lower body resembling a green gown with a green underside. It had a pale stone with a light green and pink swirl crystallized in it, hanging onto its head via string.

"Apologies, Diantha," Lysandre chuckled. "You two, care to join me?"

"Oh. My. God," Shauna said as she and Serena followed Lysandre. "That's Diantha! _THE_ famous movie star; Kalos's idol! _THE_ Diantha!"

"Wow..." Serena could only say as she scanned Gardevoir with her pokédex. She would've never thought she would actually meet someone as famous as a movie star.

"Gardevoir, the embrace Pokémon. To protect its Trainer, it will expend all its psychic power to create a small black hole."

"Hello you two," Diantha smiled. "Gardevoir, could you set up two more cups for us?"

Gardevoir nodded as she emitted a strong psychic power, causing two cups to float towards Shauna and Serena and landed before them. Gardevoir them carried a teapot, and went over and poured tea into the two cups.

"Thank you," Serena and Shauna said, where Gardevoir smiled in response.

"So do you two know each other?" Shauna asked.

"Why yes," Diantha said. "We knew each other for quite a while."

"Really now," Serena said as she took a sip from her cup.

"That's right," Diantha replied. "So you two are the children chosen by Professor Sycamore, huh."

"Yes, but there are three more," Serena replied. "Two of them are waiting outside, while one more stayed behind since Professor Sycamore wanted to discuss something with him."

"I see," Diantha mused as she took a sip out of her own cup. "How is Augustine by the way? Is he doing well?"

"Huh? Well, he's nice," Serena said, not sure of what to say. "I guess he's doing alright."

"Oh? Worried about old Augustine, are we, Diantha," Lysandre teased. "Now if only you could actually get through with that playboy's dense head, then perhaps there's some hope for you after all."

Diantha's response was to flick Lysandre on the forehead, hiding a faint blush, while Lysandre simply chuckled.

"Uh, Miss Diantha...?" Shauna asked, getting the actress's attention. "I-I'm a huge fan of yours! It would mean the world if I could have your autograph!"

"Why of course," Diantha said happily, taking out a pen. "Do you happen to have something I can sign?"

"But still, Diantha," Lysandre insisted as Shauna scrambled to get something to get an autograph with. "We won't stay young forever, you know. You should get a move on, or else someone else might bewitch Augustine's heart, and you'll end up old and ugly."

"Well don't you have a way at words," Diantha remarked sarcastically.

"So, how would you feel if you could remain young and beautiful forever?" Lysandre asked.

Diantha arched an eyebrow at her former colleague, as Shauna produced a notepad for her to sign.

"If I recall, your debut was that of a young girl you played so wonderfully," Lysandre commented. "Wouldn't you rather remain young and beautiful forever and always be able to play such roles? You could stay young and forever and be the apple in Augustine's eyes even."

"What a strange question, Lysandre," Diantha said as she signed Shauna's notepad. "While that sounds appealing at first, I would have to say no. Why would I want to play the same roles forever? Youth may be beautiful, but it's not all there is to life."

She finished signing Shauna's notepad and handed it back to her, before glancing back at Lysandre.

"Everything changes, Lysandre, and I want to live and change like that," Diantha replied. "So I look forward to playing different roles as I get older."

Lysandre's glance grew cold at her response, which didn't go unnoticed by Gardevoir, who tensed up.

"You were chosen to be a movie star, so shouldn't your duty be to stay ever beautiful for the people?" Lysandre asked, his tone growing angrier. "Beauty is glorious, but it is at the same time fragile. If we do not protect and maintain the beauty of this world then who will? Will we just sit back and watch as the beauty is destroyed by the filth that is the world itself?"

' _Filth that is the world?'_ Serena thought.

"Of course, change is inevitable," Diantha argued. "Nothing can stay the same way forever, Lysandre. We would have no choice but to see as this so-called 'beauty' is destroyed by the world, and then replaced with a new beauty, and so on and so on. It is a cycle that is inevitable. Or do you think otherwise?"

"As a matter of fact I do!" Lysandre suddenly roared, surprising everyone. "Everything beautiful should stay that way forever! I cannot stand the thought of this world becoming more and more unsightly! Why, I would make this world unchanging and eternal so that all beauty will last forever! Even if I would have to end the world in an instant so that the beauty never fades! "

All eyes were on the man now, as Lysandre finally noticed how surprised and scared Serena and Shauna looked, and calmed down.

"My apologies," Lysandre said calmly. "I let myself lose control."

Serena and Shauna glanced at the man somewhat cautiously, but regardless sat down.

"Let's talk about something more positive, shall we," Lysandre said, wanting to shift the conversation into a more positive one. "But still, you have become one of the most accomplished movie stars in Kalos since the last time we met. You move multitudes with your excellent acting."

"Why thank you," Diantha simply smiled as she took a sip from her cup.

"You would've rather had Augustine compliment you, don't you?" Lysandre decided to tease.

"That's none of your concern," Diantha shot back hastily.

"Of course," Lysandre chuckled, before turning to Serena and Shauna. "You two should look up to her. She dedicates her life to making other people happy. Oh! If only everyone were like her...what a beautiful world that would be..."

Shauna seemed to have lightened up a little, but Serena was still eyeing the man cautiously. Something about him was...odd...to say the least. Even if his intentions and apparent goals seem to be righteous, but something about Lysandre unnerved her. She had to be weary of this man, no matter what.

"? Oh, excuse me," Lysandre suddenly said, before putting his finger to his ear. "It's me...I see...good work. I'll return immediately."

Lysandre then got up and prepared to leave.

"Oh? Leaving already?" Diantha asked.

"Something came up back at the lab, and my colleagues need to see me apparently," Lysandre smiled apologetically. "It was nice seeing you again, Diantha. Perhaps next time we can bring Augustine here and you can work on your seduction plans."

"The door's right there," Diantha retorted, not even sparing him a glance, where Lysandre simply chuckled.

"Oh and it was a pleasure to see you two as well," Lysandre said to Serena and Shauna. "I wish you luck on your journeys. Hopefully next time I can meet up with the rest of your friends."

"Ah–yes," Serena said somewhat hesitantly, bowing her head slightly. "It was nice to meet you too, Mr. Lysandre,"

"Please, just Lysandre is fine with me," the man chuckled, before he made his exit.

As the man turned to leave, his mouth moved, although what he said was lost to the see of people outside waiting to hound the redhead. The motions, however, wasn't missed by Serena.

"Huh...?" Serena asked.

"Seré? Are you okay?" Shauna asked.

"Ah–y-yeah..." Serena mumbled.

"Now to get you two out of here in one piece," Diantha said, watching as Pyroar kept the mass at bay as Lysandre walked out. "Gardevoir, if you would be a dear?"

Gardevoir nodded as she lifted her arms, releasing psychic energy that engulfed everyone in the room, causing them to teleport out of the room.

* * *

Soon enough, they found themselves in front of a gate away from the café. The honey blonde girl looked at the gate, noting the giant number '5' engraved onto it.

"This is the gate to Route 5," Diantha said. "I hope this was okay."

"It's fine," Serena assured the actress. "Sorry for making you do this though..."

"Oh, it's no problem," Diantha assured her. "I should be the one apologizing. Those people are most likely after me, but you two ended up getting caught up in this."

"No no no, it's not your fault, Miss Diantha!" Shauna assured her enthusiastically.

"Well, I do hope I didn't cause you too much trouble," Diantha giggled. "But tell me, are either of you trainers?"

"Huh? Well, Seré here is a rookie trainer," Shauna said. "But trust me, she's good!"

"I-I'm not _that_ good..." Serena mumbled.

"Well, when you do become confident enough in your skills and bonds with your Pokémon to call yourself 'good', then I look forward to us battling someday," Diantha said nicely.

With that, the girls exchanged words of goodbyes, as Gardevoir teleported Diantha out of the scene.

"We better let Tierno and Trevs know that we're here," Shauna said as she took out her holo caster and contacted Tierno.

As she called up Tierno, Serena couldn't help but think back to the café, and what Lysandre said.

" _Everything beautiful should stay that way forever! I cannot stand the thought of this world becoming more and more unsightly! Why, I would make this world unchanging and eternal so that all beauty will last forever! Even if I would have to end the world in an instant so that the beauty never fades! "_

Even if he had to end the world? Was he serious? How could he even be capable of doing that? Why would he even consider doing something like that?

Everything about that man scared her. Especially when he delivered that speech, instantly changing from a calm and collected persona to a more fervent and passionate one. He sounded so serious; mad even.

"Serena! Shauna!"

The two girls turned to see Tierno and Trevor running up to them. Oh well, she could worry about that man on another date. It wasn't as if he was the leader of an evil organization or anything, even if he was a little...passionate his ambitions.

Although, what he said as he left the café...while everyone else didn't catch it, she saw what he had mouthed, and she was able to understand what he said even when he was muffled by the crowd:

" _Je ne peux pas supporter l'idée de voir le monde devenir souillé. C'est pourquoi mon désir...c'est pour un plus beau monde."_

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN:** Bonus points to anyone who can tell me what that last line means in English. Of course I know, since I wrote the damn thing, but I want to see how many of you know French. And besides, revealing the translation would (technically) be spoilers to Lysandre's true character, since no one seems to have gotten it in the story.

Anyways, pretty sure that's good enough. Sorry for a lack of battles, but this was more plot-orientated than actually focusing on battling. Everyone gets a new Pokemon, officially enter Sycamore, Lysandre, and Diantha, and now they're off to learn about Mega Evolutions. Yeah

If anyone actually agrees with me with buffing the gym leaders disgustingly and wants to see Grant use a Tyrantrum and Aurorus with a competitive set, then you all actually hate Serena, the poor girl. And I play competitively, so I know how to up the ante with these guys.

And now to update the team rosters:

Serena: Marisso (Chespin) / Rill (Marill) / Salamé (Charmander)

Calem: Blaziken / Froakie / Scyther / Bulbasaur

Shauna: Kinniekins (Fennekin) / Kitkat (Skitty) / Squirts (Squirtle)

Tierno: Corphish / Fletchling / Budew

Trevor: Flabébé / Pikachu

Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time and take care.


	5. Parfum Pandemonium

**Fidelity**

 **Chapter 5: Parfum Pandemonium**

* * *

 **AN:** Well this is a new record for me. Sure I know I can take a little time, but 4 months is actually a new record. In my defense, I had some justifications. If you all are familiar with Color of Your Soul and/or follow it, then you'll probably know by now that I placed an update over there explaining why I haven't been uploading lately; mainly because the USB drive that contains all my chapters got corrupted, so I had to do a factory reset and lost all my files. So I had to rewrite the new chapters ALL OVER AGAIN. Not to mention I'm not totally satisfied with how I portrayed everyone's personalities, or if I defined them enough here. So I am terribly sorry for taking so long in updating. But on the bright side, I had a lot to put into this chapter, so hopefully that makes up for it.

But first, some reviews:

 **Defender31415:** Thanks! Whether I buff the Gym Leaders or not will depend on how I feel about it, and yeah if we all learned anything about Lysandre in the canon games, then clearly whatever he's plotting can't be good.

 **Tony Anderson:** Thanks! Sorry for the long wait, but here's the next chapter!

 **AnimeKawaiiChibi-chan:** Hey, you got it! Good for you!

 **flashyhero:** Well glad to hear that you had a good vacation. And regarding on whether I buff Grant or not, if I do buff him, I will not hold back and make sure the team ends up as obscenely powerful as I can think of.

 **Anonymous Trainer:** Thanks! Glad you liked it!

 **bt:** Hey thanks man!

 **Knight of Wings:** Yknow, you're building up to becoming one of my favorite readers, mostly cuz all of your reviews analyzes every notable aspect of the chapter. I always like reading your reviews since it's so in-depth. But that's besides the point, and I'm not gonna hold favoritism or bias for that matter. Sure turning a gyarados into its mega would theoretically make it even more deadly than usual, I'm just saying turning an arrogant bloodknight into an obscene bloodthirsty berserker is still pretty damn dangerous. Bonus points for having a type combination only shared by a legendary. And yeah you bring a point up with how I scale the Gym Leader's power. If their challenger is capable enough, then they can go all out, otherwise, they need to match their skill to the skill of their challengers, lest their bosses get pissed off. And for what Lysandre said, it's basically that one line he keeps saying in the game, but in French. Something about making a beautiful world, idk I forgot how he said it in the games. Don't worry, you'll all learn eventually why Lysandre became the insane genocidal man we all know him as. And oh yes, Shauna, Tierno and Trevor will get full teams. Mostly cuz this game gives me many, many options.

 **I M Poik:** I'm just saying, Serena is the main protagonist. Sure Calem is probably more interesting and mysterious and probably fills the role of such kind of mysterious protagonist along the lines of how I portrayed Nate and Hilbert, but he's still the deuteragonist at best. Serena's still the main star of the show, and unlike Nate, Hilbert and so far Dawn, she's meant to be closer to a more traditional Pokemon protagonist (I mean compare her to Nate and tell me which one is the normal main hero) that I'm trying to establish; a new trainer who just got their first Pokemon and is journeying out the region to be their very best. She's the naive, timid newbie trainer who's doing her best to get better, has the potential and determination to grow further, and is just trying to find her place in the world. It's not like she'll be like that forever though, and if anything she'll get her fair share of development, if that helps.

Oh yeah and thanks for pointing out that I forgot to put Squirtle into Shauna's roster. Should've fixed it by now. Will Shauna, Tierno and Trevor get Mega Evolution? Uh...hm, well while the idea's tempting, I'm not too sure yet. Probably not, since in the games they stated they weren't good enough to be able to master it, and that made sense.

 **to ra:** See, you get me in regards to Serena. I like you. Welcome to the club. Just remember, update times may vary from two weeks, earlier, or I'm probably busy getting mauled by personal issues, and I'm willing to not hold back when things go awry and dramatic. Or gory for that matter.

 **Pale1357:** Glad you're all caught up! Here's a new chapter for you.

Alright, let's get on with it.

* * *

Serena stretched out her arms as she looked around Route 5. After the craziness that happened in Lumiose, the open nature was very welcoming. The air was much fresher than compared to the big cities; that much was for sure.

"Alright," Serena said, as she took out her pokéballs and released her party. "Let's get some training done before we head off to the next town!"

"-Right,-" Marisso and Rill nodded.

"As for you, Salamé," Serena said as she kneeled down to the charmander. "You're now traveling with us from now on, so let's get along and do our best, alright?"

"-Uh huh!-" Salamé nodded enthusiastically, punching the air. "-I'm ready to go!-"

As Salamé got fired up and ready to fight, Shauna, Tierno and Trevor let all their Pokémon out to enjoy the outside while taking a rest.

"Do you really think we'll find any info about Mega Evolution at the next town?" Shauna asked.

"Well we won't ever find out until we get there," Tierno shrugged as he let his Pokémon out to enjoy the air and to practice some dance routines.

"Yeah, you're right," Shauna agreed as she let her Pokémon out. "Besides, I wanna get to know Squirts some more!"

Squirts looked up as Shauna picked him up and squeezed him into her chest.

"-Gueh...still worth...even if she's flat...-" Squirts gagged.

Kinniekins rolled her eyes while Kitkat tilted her head in slight confusion.

"-Pervert...-" Kinniekins muttered.

Seeing the others release their Pokémon, Trevor decided to let his Pokémon out too. Flabébé and Pikachu landed on the grass, yawning and acknowledging their Trainer.

"Alright," Trevor told them. "While everyone else is doing their thing, let's go and check what kind of Pokémon are in this area for the dex."

"-Of course,-" Flabébé nodded.

"-Well if she's doing it, then I'm doing it too,-" Pikachu smirked, glancing at Flabébé, making her blush slightly.

"O...kay then..." Trevor muttered, somewhat weirded out by his Pokémon's interactions. "Let's go then you two."

As Trevor decided to survey the area for its residing Pokémon, Serena placed Marisso against Salamé.

"Now, are you two ready?" Serena asked them.

"-You betcha!-" Salamé exclaimed.

"-Ready,-" Marisso nodded in response.

"Alright, then begin!" Serena proclaimed, signaling the two tykes to charge at each other.

Salamé lunged at Marisso with a Scratch attack, but Marisso hardened his shell, easily defending himself while making Salamé stab himself with the pricked spikes on Marisso's shell.

"-Ow!-" Salamé winced as he pulled back.

As Salamé did that however, Marisso shot out vines from his collar and ensnared Salamé with them, before proceeding to slam Salamé into the ground.

"-Ow! Ow! Hey, cut it out!-" Salamé yelled before shooting an Ember at the vines, lighting them on fire.

"-Agh!-" Marisso yelped, letting go of Salamé and receding the vines to put out the fire.

Now seeing his opening, Salamé shot another stream of embers at Marisso, but the hedgehog managed to roll out of the way, much to Salamé's chagrin. Salamé angrily kept shooting Embers at Marisso, who kept rolling out of the way, until Marisso was able to get close and ram into the Fire-type with the Rollout. Salamé flew back, but managed to land on his feet as Marisso rolled away from him. Growling, Salamé charged at Marisso once more, while Marisso got ready. As they continued their battle, Serena kept watching them, noting how they battled.

"Hm...Marisso tends to fight more defensively, while Salamé tends to just charge straight in there..." Serena noted. "Maybe I should fix that...or train them to better suit their battle styles...? Hmm...I don't know whether that's a good thing or not...although..."

Serena watched as Marisso was able to land a Leech Seed on Salamé as he recklessly tried to scratch Marisso once more.

"I should train Salamé to not just rush in there," Serena decided.

"-At this rate, he'll lose to Marisso,-" Rill commented, sighing in disappointment. "-If he would only just calm down and not rush in there like an idiot, then maybe he can win.-"

"-I'm not done yet!-" Salamé roared as he prepared a Dragon Rage.

Marisso got ready to take the hit, but a loud cry came from the sky, interrupting both of them.

"-Huh?-" Marisso asked, looking up to the sky, only to find something crash into him like a cannonball. "-AGH!?-"

"What the–?!" Serena blurted, rushing over to Marisso.

Serena, Rill and Salamé rushed over to Marisso, who groaned in slight pain as he got back up. Not too far away from Marisso was another Pokémon, a small panda cub with a short, white puffy tail. The panda groggily got up, revealing a leaf in its mouth.

"What is it?" Serena asked as everyone else gathered around after the commotion she brought up.

"What's wrong, Seré?" Shauna asked.

"What's this pancham doing here?" Trevor asked as he scanned the panda.

"Pancham, the playful Pokémon," it read. "It does its level best to glare and pull a scary face, but it can't help grinning if anyone pats its head."

The pancham looked around, not recognizing anyone around him.

"-Where am I?-" Pancham asked.

"-That's what we wanna know,-" Rill replied. "-You did kinda fall from the sky.-"

"-Wait, I did?-" Pancham asked. "-Wait, where's Korrina?-"

"-Who?-" Marisso asked.

"PANCHAAAAAM!"

* * *

The group turned to the hills, where someone suddenly shot out from on top of the hill, before bulleting down said hill towards them, with two other Pokémon following her at an equally impressive speed. The person made a complete halt before a severe accident could occur, where the two Pokémon made a full halt as well.

"What the–!?" Serena blurted as Marisso got in front of her in a defensive posture.

Upon closer look, the person was a tall and slender girl wearing a typical skater attire, consisting of a short white and red sleeveless dress over black shorts and a white and red helmet on her head. She also had green-gray eyes with very long creamy blonde hair tied in a big, thick high fluffy ponytail that emerged from the back of the helmet. A rather peculiar stone was embedded into her left glove. The two Pokémon behind her were a bipedal, canine-like Pokémon with predominantly blue and black fur, and a smaller, bipedal bird-like Pokémon with red, cape-like wings. On the left paw of the jackal was a bracelet with an orange stone with a blue and red swirl crystallized in it.

"Thank Arceus...we found you..." the girl panted.

"A-Are you this pancham's trainer...?" Serena asked.

"Yeah..." the girl admitted sheepishly. "I just recently caught that pancham and decided to train him against Hawlucha...but things got carried away..."

The small bird-like Pokémon in question, Hawlucha, scratched the back of his head nervously, all while getting dirty glares from Pancham.

"Anyways, sorry about that..." the girl apologized. "I hope no one got hurt..."

"Ah, no everything's alright, no one got hurt," Serena assured. "At least your Pancham's safe."

"Yeah, true," the girl agreed, before kneeling down to Pancham. "Sorry 'bout that, buddy. Are you alright?"

Pancham glanced back up to his trainer, before nodding in response.

"I'm Serena, by the way," Serena decided to introduce herself, before introducing everyone else. "And these are my friends, Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor."

"The name's Korrina," the girl introduced herself. "And thanks for catching Pancham for me."

"I-Is that lucario and hawlucha yours, by the way?" Trevor asked as he and Tierno stared at them in awe.

"Huh? Yeah," Korrina said.

"Are you two okay?" Shauna asked the two boys.

"Don't you know how rare Lucario is?" Trevor asked. "Lucarios are really powerful Fighting-types! They're the few to not be weak to Fairy-types and have the ability to manipulate aura, something no other Pokémon can. Many notable trainers in history had a lucario, which just shows how powerful they are."

"Hawluchas are among the most elegant and graceful Kalos has to offer, in battle and in the field of dance!" Tierno exclaimed. "Strong and agile Fighting and Flying-type hybrids they are; hawluchas make up for their small bodies with their proficiency in fighting, allowing htem to keep up with bigger fighters, like machamps and hariyamas. They're capable of deftly controlling their position in the air with skillful uses of their wings in a similar manner to talonflames! As a dance enthusiast, Hawlucha is a must to have!"

Serena and Shauna looked weirded out by the boys' enthusiasm, before promptly scanning the two Fighting-types with their pokédex.

"Lucario, the aura Pokémon," Serena's pokédex read. "By catching the aura emanating from others, it can read their thoughts and movements."

"Hawlucha, the wrestling Pokémon," Shauna's pokédex read. "With its wings, it controls its position in the air. It likes to attack from above, a maneuver that is difficult to defend against."

"You have a lot of Fighting-types, huh," Serena noted.

"Uh huh!" Korrina replied. "I am the Shalour City Gym's Gym Leader after all."

"You're a gym leader?!" Serena gasped.

"Yep!" Korrina smirked. "Fighting-type is the gym's modus operandi!"

"Wow..." Shauna could only say in awe. "You don't look any older than any of us...how old are you?"

"Sixteen," Korrina replied.

"Yep, we're all the same age," Shauna nodded.

"So, are you all trainers?" Korrina asked.

"Uh y-yeah," Serena said. "We started our journeys a few days ago."

"That's pretty cool," Korrina smiled. "And any of you going after the gyms?"

"That'll be Seré!" Shauna replied, placing all attention to her honey-blonde friend. "She just defeated Santalune City's Gym Leader with her chespin!"

"I-It wasn't that impressive..." Serena mumbled.

"Wait, doesn't Santalune City's gym specialize in Bug-types?" Korrina asked, where Shauna nodded in confirmation. "That's awesome!"

Marisso rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Are these your Pokémon?" Korrina asked Serena as she kneeled down to Marisso, Rill and Salamé.

"Ah, yes..." Serena said.

"Hm...They all look pretty tough," Korrina commented. "You must've trained them pretty well."

"Thanks..." Serena mumbled, happy that a gym leader complimented her team.

"Wait, you said you were the Shalour City Gym Leader, correct?" Trevor asked once he calmed down. "So would you perhaps know anything about Mega Evolution?"

"Oh? You're looking into Mega Evolution?" Korrina asked.

"Ah yes," Trevor explained. "Professor Sycamore assigned us to look into Mega Evolution, Mega Stones and Key Stones, and he mentioned that the Mega Evolution Guru, the main overseer of Mega Evolution in Kalos, lives there. You wouldn't happen to know this person, would you?"

"Do I know him? He's my Grampa!" Korrina admitted.

"He is?!" Shauna gasped. "Wait, does that mean you can use Mega Evolution too?!"

"Yep!" Korrina puffed her chest up proudly and showing them her left glove, which housed the peculiar stone. "I'm a recognized Mega Evolution Trainer!"

"Amazing...!" Tierno gaped. "So you're a Gym Leader and a trainer who can use Mega Evolution?!"

"That's right!" Korrina grinned.

Serena merely gazed at Korrina in awe. She was the same age as herself, yet she's already a Gym Leader and already capable of using Mega Evolution. There was no doubt that Korrina was much stronger than her. Serena couldn't help but look up to Korrina; she was already a much more accomplished trainer than she was at the same age.

As Serena gazed at the stone in Korrina's glove, until noticing that it looked familiar.

"So...that stone is a 'Key Stone', right?" Serena asked, remembering what Professor Sycamore called it.

"That's right," Korrina confirmed as she gestured to Lucario to come up. "You need a Key Stone and a Mega Stone to Mega Evolve a certain Pokémon."

The jackal walked up to Korrina, before presenting the stone in his bracelet.

"This is the Lucarionite," Korrina explained. "With it, and the Key Stone I have, Lucario can Mega Evolve into 'Mega Lucario'."

"Huh..." Serena said. "Y'know that stone looks like the one Calem has on his bracelet."

"Huh?" Shauna asked, before staring at the Key Stone. "Hey yeah, now that you mention it."

"Wait, does that mean Calem can use Mega Evolution?" Trevor asked.

"I mean I wouldn't be too surprised," Tierno said. "I mean he already has a powerful blaziken, and he didn't seem too fazed when Professor Sycamore was talking about Mega Evolution."

"Cal...?" Korrina asked. "Wait, you guys said that you were sent by Professor Sycamore, right?"

"What? Uh, yeah," Serena replied.

"...So you know a trainer called 'Calem'?" Korrina asked.

"You know Calem...?" Serena asked.

"WATCH OUT!"

Before anyone could do anything, they all heard incoming stomping sounds. They turned to see a two-headed, bipedal avian Pokémon, charging at them in a frenzy.

"What the–?!" Tierno blurted. "Is that a doduo?!"

While everyone else was able to jump out of the way, Salamé was a bit too slow on reaction, so Serena had to jump back and get the Fire-type out of the way, getting hit by the bird in his stead.

"-S-Serena!-" Salamé gasped.

"Ugh...Are you alright, Salamé?" Serena managed to ask.

The doduo went into another frenzy, before targeting Serena.

"-W-Why you–!-" Salamé growled, enraged that the bird hurt Serena.

Before Doduo could do anything, two vines shot out, ensnaring the bird by their two necks and preventing it from approaching Serena.

"Huh? Marisso?" Serena asked, but noticed that the chespin was next to her, and therefore not responsible for the vines.

"Get out of there!"

Everyone looked to see Calem, with Bulbasaur having shot the Vine Whip to keep Doduo at bay.

"-Ng...-" Bulbasaur grunted as he kept Doduo from advancing.

"Calem...!" Serena gasped, before nodding and getting Salamé and Marisso out of the way.

"Froakie!" Calem yelled.

The frog nodded as he charged a Water Pulse in his hands, before jumping onto Bulbasaur's vines and launching the orb at Doduo, blasting its heads with the attack. Bulbasaur let go of the bird, as it fell to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

"What a pain..." Calem sighed. "Well at least all that was over. Is everyone alright?"

Everyone grouped back together as they confronted Calem, who had suddenly appeared when the doduo attack. No one seemed to notice Korrina, or how she was staring at Calem intently.

"Yes, we're alright," Trevor replied. "But...what was that...?"

"An oversight on my part," Calem admitted. "I was training Froakie and Bulbasaur against that doduo, but it got confused by one of Froakie's Water Pulses. And thus it went on a frenzy, and this happened."

"I see..." Trevor nodded, understanding what happened.

"Seré, are you alright?" Shauna asked, checking up on her and then noticing her wound. "You got hurt!"

Serena looked down to see a moderate gash on her arm, with blood leaking out of it. Calem went up to her and examined the wound, before rummaging through his bag, taking out a handkerchief, wiped the blood off, before wrapping the wound with bandage.

"Oh, uh...th-thank you..." Serena mumbled, blushing at the contact and Calem's sudden kindness.

"It was my fault you got hurt in the first place," Calem said. "It's the least I can do. Although you should let a nurse treat the wound properly. I only made sure the bleeding stopped for the time being."

"R-Right," Serena nodded, but smiled. "But still...thank you."

Calem looked a bit surprised, but nodded regardless in response slightly. While Marisso and Salamé looked at Serena with some relief, Rill kept glaring at Calem; the memory of her horde of fellow marills being attacked by him still fresh in her mind. Rill wanted to protest, but decided against it so that Serena could get some treatment. Once Calem finished treating Serena's wound, he checked up on his own Pokémon.

"You two alright?" Calem asked.

Bulbasaur timidly nodded, while Froakie grunted in response, feeling somewhat responsible for the doduo going berserk.

"It's not your fault," Calem told Froakie, foreseeing Froakie's guilt. "You couldn't have known."

Froakie nodded reluctantly, but still gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Well, since all that's settled," Calem said, as he turned to the group. "What're you all doing here, anyways? I'd figured you'd all reach Camphrier by now."

"Oh, we kinda stopped by to train and explore the route here," Serena said. "And then we ran into Korrina."

"Korrina?" Calem asked, glancing around until he spotted the girl in question, and then groaning upon recognizing her. "Oh goddamn it..."

"I knew it..." Korrina murmured, still staring at Calem as big grin began to form on her face.

"Wait wha...?" Shauna asked.

"CAL-CHAAAAAAAAN!" Korrina cried gleefully as she suddenly pounced at Calem.

And before anyone could even respond, Calem responded by grabbing her face and hurling her into the ground.

"GUEH!?" Korrina gagged.

"Can't you make a normal greeting, you idiot?" Calem asked in an exasperated tone as he let go of her.

"Oh c'mon, Cal-chan!" Korrina whined as she got back up as if nothing happened at all. "It's been SOOOOO long since we last met! Let me be happy about our reunion, Cal-chan!"

"And stop it with the stupid nickname," Calem grumbled, palming his face. "...It's embarrassing."

"But that's the nickname we decided on, Cal-chan! You can't just stop it after all these years!" Korrina argued. "And what's wrong with it, anyways?"

"Wait...you know each other?" Shauna asked.

Calem glanced at the group, before sighing as he moved to the side next to Korrina.

"Well, like you all know, this is Korrina," Calem grumbled. "...She's my childhood friend."

"She is?!" everyone else gasped, while Korrina had a rather proud grin on her face.

"Yeah..." Calem muttered. "Her battling skills are her only saving grace."

"Hey, that's not nice!" Korrina yelled, catching the hidden insult.

"So...can you use Mega Evolution too?" Serena asked, glancing at Calem's bracelet.

"...Yeah..." Calem muttered.

"Why didn't you say anything back at the lab then?" Shauna asked. "Professor Sycamore is researching Mega Evolution, right?"

"Sycamore already knows about my Mega Ring," Calem admitted. "But even with my ring in his research, there're still stuff beyond what this will provide. Which is why he wants you all to go and look into Mega Evolution."

"But how come you didn't say anything about being able to Mega Evolve back at Lumiose though?" Trevor questioned.

"You're all headed to Shalour anyways," Calem shrugged. "It'll all be explained there anyways, so I figured it wouldn't matter in the end."

"So...is Blaziken capable of Mega Evolution?" Trevor asked.

"Yeah," Calem replied. "He's the only one capable of doing so in my team at the moment though."

"So~, Cal-chan," Korrina decided to interrupt. "Did you finally catch some new Pokémon?"

"Yeah, yeah," Calem grumbled as he took out his remaining pokéballs and released Scyther and Blaziken.

"Wow, so you got a froakie, a bulbasaur, and a scyther," Korrina commented. "Nice to see you again, Blaziken."

Blaziken nodded in response, recognizing and acknowledging Korrina. He then glanced to Lucario, where the two exchanged glances.

"-It's been a while,-" Lucario said curtly.

"-Indeed,-" Blaziken nodded back.

"Nice to see you actually having other mons, Cal-chan," Korrina teased Calem, making the boy grumble.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Serena asked.

"For the longest time, he never caught any Pokémon," Korrina explained. "His only party member was just Blaziken. He would never bother to catch anything else!"

"Really?" Shauna asked, surprised by this fact. "Wait, wouldn't that mean Froakie would be the very first Pokémon he ever got that's not Blaziken?"

"Oh shut up," Calem grumbled in embarrassment, before glaring at Korrina. "And you stop divulging in shit like that."

The girl simply stuck her tongue out playfully, before revealing two more pokéballs.

"You're not the only one who caught new Pokémon however!" Korrina declared, as she released two more Pokémon, while Pancham walked up in front of her.

To her right emerged a bipedal, beetle-like Pokémon covered in a blue exoskeleton with a long, pronged horn on its forehead, while to her left emerged a humanoid, bipedal Pokémon that resembled a yoga practitioner.

"A pancham, a heracross and a medicham, huh," Calem mused as he glanced at her new roster, while the others took out their pokédexes and scanned the two newcomers. "You really do like Fighting-types, huh."

"Heracross, the single horn Pokémon. This powerful Pokémon thrusts its prized horn under its enemies' bellies, then lifts and throws them."

"Medicham, the meditate Pokémon. Through yoga training, it gained the psychic power to predict its foe's next move."

"But of course!" Korrina replied. "They're my modus operandi, you know that Cal-chan."

"But then again, this makes my life easier," Calem said as he rummaged through his bag and took out a yellow stone with a blue, orange and red swirl crystallized in it, before proceeding to toss it to Heracross, who caught it in his hand.

"Is that the Heracronite?!" Korrina gasped as Heracross and Medicham examined the stone.

"Yeah," Calem answered. "I found it at Santalune Forest along with the Pinsirite. Also managed to find the Scizorite, which Scyther had."

Everyone gathered around to see the Mega Stone in Heracross's possession and marveled at it. Serena, on the other hand, didn't want to get near Heracross, her fear of Bug-type Pokémon getting the best of her, and instead glanced at Calem.

' _So he has three Mega Stones?'_ Serena thought. _'Blaziken's Mega Stone, this 'Scizorite', and the Venusaurite he received from Professor Sycamore. So that means when they evolve, he has_ three _Mega Evolutions at his disposal...?'_

She trembled slightly in fear at the power Calem would possess in the future. Blaziken was already an outright terror in his own right, and he already shown that Froakie was strong; who knows how much stronger he would become if he had _three_ Mega Evolutions at his disposal, along with an evolved Froakie?

"I was going to find a suitable trainer to use the Heracronite," Calem said. "But since you have a heracross, then that makes my life easier. Consider it yours."

"Oh my god YES!" Korrina rejoiced, before smothering Calem into another hug. "Thanks, Cal-chan! You're the best!"

"Gah! Get off me, you idiot!" Calem snarled in annoyance as he tried to pry her off.

While everyone else was still too distracted by Heracross and the Mega Stone, Serena didn't know how to feel about the exchange. Korrina was gushing all over her childhood friend, nuzzling her cheek against Calem's while the boy tried to get her off of him to no avail.

Serena didn't miss how Calem was slightly blushing, even if he looked annoyed.

...Honestly Serena didn't know how to feel. Korrina was already a much capable and stronger trainer, was a Gym Leader, was capable of Mega Evolution, and already had a good relationship with Calem, if she's able to openly show affection to him in public like that.

She felt uneasy, jealous even.

"Ooh! Ooh! I SO have to test it out!" Korrina declared once she decided to let go of Calem. "C'mon, Cal-chan! Let's battle! I wanna test out Mega Heracross!"

Calem dusted himself off and raised an eyebrow at the excited Fighting-type enthusiast, before glancing back at Serena, specifically her bandage.

"First we should take Serena to an actual center, and have a professional look at the wound," Calem interjected.

"Ah, right..." Korrina mumbled sheepishly, having forgotten that Serena had gotten hurt, before turning to the girl. "Sorry. I got caught up in the tension..."

"Ah, no no, it's alright," Serena insisted.

"But we should get you to a nurse," Korrina said. "C'mon, Camphrier shouldn't be too far from here."

"C'mon, let's go Seré," Shauna said, worried for her friend.

"Right..." Serena mumbled, before the group headed to the direction of the town.

* * *

"Alright, you should be all better now," the nurse at Camphrier Town's pokécenter told Serena as she finished patching up her wound. "It's a good thing your friend managed to treat it when he did. It could've been much worse."

"Yeah, I guess..." Serena replied meekly.

"Now you be careful now," the nurse told Serena as she collected her tools.

"Thank you!" Serena thanked the nurse.

"At least that's all better now," Shauna sighed in relief.

"Still, it was a good thing Calem treated the wound when he did though," Tierno said. "The wound could've gotten worse if he hadn't."

The four looked over to where Calem was, currently charging a laptop he had on him while Korrina kept bugging him.

"But still, to think Calem knew a gym leader as a childhood friend," Trevor said. "And they're both capable of using Mega Evolution at that."

"Come to think about it, we don't know much about him, do we?" Tierno brought up.

"Well, he barely talks to us anyways," Shauna muttered. "How are we supposed to know what's up with him when he won't open up? Doesn't help that he acts like a jerk."

"I wouldn't call him a 'jerk' per say," Tierno retorted. "I mean he does help out when the situation calls for it, like when he saved us from the hydreigon, or when he treated Serena's wound. At best, he's just aloof. Just give it some time; I'm sure he'll open up."

"I still think he's just a jerk..." Shauna pouted.

"Now, now, Shauna," Trevor tried to calm Shauna down.

Serena glanced over to Calem, who kept swatting away Korrina's hand as she repeatedly kept trying to poke him in the cheek. Shauna glanced between Serena slightly longingly staring back at Calem and said jerk.

"What? Jealous?" Shauna decided to tease Serena.

"Wha–?! What're you talking about?" Serena blurted.

"Oh please it couldn't be any more obvious," Shauna said. "You have a crush on him, don't you?"

"I-It's not a c-crush, per say..." Serena mumbled. "More...admiration...? I mean he's a really strong trainer...someone I could look up to as a trainer...and he's pretty cool and surprisingly nice and...Uh..."

"Yeaaah...you're terrible at lying," Shauna dismissed it. "Well, good luck. You're gonna need it."

"Good luck? For what?" Serena asked, before Shauna pointed to Calem and Korrina.

Currently Calem was looking at the screen intently, while Korrina was still poking at his cheek, the boy having given up at some point since Korrina apparently refused to stop poking his cheek, and simply decided to ignore her for the time being. Slightly pouting, Korrina decided to close the distance and rested her head next to his on his shoulder, while wrapping her arms around him. Calem shot her a dirty glare, but grumbled something and left her be. Korrina smiled as she nuzzled against Calem's cheek, content with her current position.

"You're gonna need a _loooooot_ of work, Seré," Shauna said. "Cuz Korrina is definitely gonna be the biggest cockblock between you, him and a white dress at the local chapel with a baby coming soon."

"Wha–?!" Serena stammered, her face as red as Salamé was orange.

"Wait, you think Korrina has a crush on Calem too?" Trevor asked.

"Oh please, look at that and tell me she doesn't have a crush on him too," Shauna dared Trevor, pointing to Korrina's public display of affection.

"She could just be the touchy-feely type," Trevor offered.

"Highly doubt it," Shauna simply replied. "So Seré, you better step up your game."

"It's not like that!" Serena squealed.

"But still," Tierno said as he glanced at the duo. "What do you think they're talking about?"

* * *

"So how was Clem-chan doing?" Korrina asked Calem.

"Clemont? He was doing well," Calem replied without even looking at her. "Apparently the city was going through a blackout so most of the streets were closed off. Had to sneak around just to get back into Prism Tower."

"Is that so," Korrina mused as she watched Calem work on his laptop. "So how many Mega Stones did you find?"

"Counting the Heracronite I gave you," Calem replied as he scrolled through the list on his laptop. "I found the Scizorite, Pinsirite which I entrusted to Viola, Manectite which I already gave to Clemont, Aerodactylite, Venusaurite which Sycamore gave to me, and Charizardite X."

"That's quite a few," Korrina said, impressed.

"I tried to find the Tyranitarite, Mawilite, the second Gardevoirite and Gyaradosite that was reported, Alakazite, Abomasite, Garchompite, Absolite, Aggronite, Medichamite and Gengarite, but I couldn't find them, but no luck," Calem decided to tell her. "Either they've already been found and retrieved, or they're in another location I haven't searched yet. All the other stones all already have confirmed owners."

"What about those Mega Stones for the other Mega Evolutions sighted in Hoenn a few years back?" Korrina asked.

"I couldn't find a thing about them," Calem shook his head. "While I'm still banking on the possibility, I highly doubt they're in Kalos. I'll have to look more into that. Although if I can get them...then imagine the power..."

"You did say you wanted one of them after all," Korrina giggled.

"It would certainly be a powerful asset after all," Calem nodded. "Perhaps they could acquire one..."

Korrina stared at Calem as he continued to type away at his list of Mega Stones and whatever data he accumulated from studying them.

"So, you feel like taking a visit to the Parfum Palace?" Korrina asked.

"Parfum Palace?" Calem asked. "That palace at the end of Route 6? Why?"

"I mean why not? It'll make for some decent sight-seeing," Korrina said. "We could go together, if you wanted..."

"Hmph, I don't have time for sight-seeing, you know that," Calem rolled his eyes.

"...Hm...You know, there's been information that states that Wikstrom from the Kalos Pokémon League is currently at the Palace right now," Korrina revealed.

Calem stopped typing, glancing at Korrina, who had a more serious look on her face.

"Wikstrom? What's he doing there?" Calem asked, genuinely interested.

"Apparently there's been a security breach in the Palace recently," Korrina informed. "While this would normally be ignored, the current owner insisted that someone from the League come to survey the premise, and make sure no new breaches happen."

"...Did the owner give any description of the intruder?" Calem asked.

"The owner could've sworn that he saw a suspicious man in a striking red suit," Korrina described, where Calem's eyes grew wider at the revelation. "...So, you wanna visit the Parfum Palace?"

"...You know what, I guess I do have time for some sight-seeing after all," Calem agreed as he put his laptop away.

* * *

Serena noticed that Calem and Korrina promptly stood up from their seats, where the boy began to collect his things.

"Huh? Is everything alright?" Serena asked.

"Oh, nothing," Calem said as he got his things. "Hope your injury gets better."

Before Serena could inquire anything else, Calem already left the door with Korrina in tow, leaving the honey blonde somewhat confused, and worried (though whether it's for his safety or a different reason entirely is debatable).

"Now do you wanna try and step up your game?" Shauna asked Serena.

"...Let's follow them," Serena declared, strangely much more determined.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tierno asked.

But the girl ignored her large friend's question as she and Shauna already gathered their things and left. Tierno merely shook his head while Trevor patted him on the shoulder in comfort, before the two of them followed the two girls.

* * *

After venturing through Route 6, Calem and Korrina finally found the Parfum Palace at the end of the road. Once the proud castle of the man who ruled Kalos 300 years ago after a war with neighboring regions, the palace now acts as a refurbished museum for the common folks of Kalos to visit and see the history of Kalos long ago.

"Wow, this place is pretty impressive," Korrina commented.

"This used to be the King of Kalos's palace, after all," Calem shrugged. "And now it acts as a glorified museum. Of course the aesthetics has to look appealing."

As Calem and Korrina headed towards the palace, Serena and the others emerged from a few bushes not too far from them.

"I feel stupid," Shauna grumbled.

"Why're they headed to the Parfum Palace, anyways?" Trevor asked.

"Who knows," Tierno shrugged. "Maybe they came to learn about Kalos's history?"

Serena, on the other hand, had her eyes affixed to Calem and Korrina, refusing to leave them out of her sight.

"Serena?" Trevor asked. "Are you alright?"

"Now, now, Trevs," Shauna told her friend. "All's fair in love and war."

"So how do you propose we even follow them?" Tierno asked. "I highly doubt they'll just let four kids into a place like this."

"I dunno," Serena muttered offhandedly, still eyeing Calem and Korrina as they approached the gate. "Ah! C'mon!"

As Serena quickly moved ahead, with her three friends tailing from behind, a yellow wave of electricity shot out from nowhere, hitting Tierno and shocking him.

"AAAAGH?!" the boy cried out, before falling to the ground.

"What the–?!" Shauna blurted as they all stopped in their tracks. "Tierno, you alright?"

"What was...?" Tierno muttered in pain and static.

As Shauna and Trevor rushed over to help him up, a loud and vibrant sound of metal clanking against one another emerged from above. They all looked up to see a small grayish-white Pokémon that resembled a key ring, jingling the four keys on it rather fervently and glaring at them with its two eyes.

"What is that...?" Shauna asked, somewhat confused.

"A klefki!" Trevor gasped. "I see, it must have shot Tierno with a Thunder Wave!"

The klefki's jingling sound also alerted Calem and Korrina, who turned around and saw the quartet along with Klefki.

"What the hell?" Calem asked.

"What is this?"

Before anyone could make another move while Klefki descended from the ground, from behind the key ring, a tall heavily-built man with black spiked hair and pale skin, fully clad in silver and gold knight's armor emerged and walked up to them. Accompanying the man in armor was a floating golden sword with one purple pupil with the blade pointing down, holding a round shield in front of the blade with two cloth-like arms crossed behind the shield. As the man saw a paralyzed Tierno, the man looked surprised, and rushed over to help him up.

"Art thou alright?" the man asked.

"I-I can't m-m-move..." Tierno muttered in a shaky voice.

The man took out a cherry-shaped berry from a bag he was carrying and fed it to Tierno. The berry instantly healed off the paralysis, allowing the large boy to move again.

"Wow, much better," Tierno said. "Thank you sir!"

"Verily," the man smiled, before shooting a glare at the klefki. "Klefki! Thou doth not attack innocent children! They are not the intruders described by the owner!"

The keyring looked somewhat shocked, and then looked guilty, floating down to Tierno and made a few gestures as if it was apologizing.

"I must apologize for my Klefki's sudden attacks," the man apologized. "We wast assigned to guard the palace from intruders that have been sighted recently. Klefki must has't mistook thee for suspicious people and attacked on his own accord."

"It's alright," Tierno replied. "He was just doing his job."

Klefki perked up slightly, while the sword simply rolled its eye at the keyring. Staring at the two peculiar Pokémon, Serena decided to scan them with her pokédex out of curiosity.

"Klefki, the key ring Pokémon. These key collectors threaten any attackers by fiercely jingling their keys at them."

"Aegislash, the royal sword Pokémon. Generations of kings were attended by these Pokémon, which used their spectral power to manipulate and control people and Pokémon."

"Uh, excuse me, but who are you anyways?" Shauna asked. "You said you were assigned to guard the Parfum Palace..."

"Ah yes, introductions are in order," the man smiled. "Verily, I am the Elite Four's famed blade of hardened Steel, Wikstrom!"

"Wikstrom...wait, the Elite Four?!" Trevor gasped. "You're one of the members of the Elite Four?!"

"Verily," Wikstrom confirmed with a smile.

"Wow..." Tierno gaped in awe.

"Uh...what's the Elite Four?" Serena asked.

Everyone looked at Serena as if she had just grown a second head, while Wikstrom looked mildly surprised, and Calem simply sighed.

"Uh...did...did I say something wrong?" Serena asked timidly.

"The Elite Four are the four strongest trainers in their region, under the command of the region's Champion and the regional Pokémon League," Calem explained. "...They're pretty important."

"I see," Serena nodded.

"Wait, but what are you doing here?" Trevor asked. "You said you were assigned to guard the palace..."

"Ah yes, verily!" Wikstrom replied. "You see, recently there has't been sightings of villains trespassing the palace. The owner of this palace has't reached out to the Pokémon League seeking protection. Thus, I answered the call to protect this land from this unknown tyranny."

"An intruder?" Trevor asked.

"Considering the Parfum Palace, there would be a lot of stuff any burglar would set their eyes on," Calem reasoned. "Money, artifacts, paintings...you could probably make a fortune by simply stealing something from here and selling it off."

"Such petty crimes shalt not beest tolerated," Wikstrom declared. "As a knight of Kalos, I wilt findeth the evildoer and bringeth justice upon those folk!"

"Hey, maybe we can help too!" Shauna offered. "We could help you guard the place and find this guy!"

"Fie, I cannot allow innocent children such as yourselves to get involved in such a dangerous office," Wikstrom declined.

"But pleaaaaaase, Mr. Wikstrom!" Shauna pleaded. "We can help, totally!"

"You could always use some extra help," Tierno reasoned. "And even if we are new trainers, we aren't exactly helpless."

"Hmm...Perhaps..." Wikstrom was still a bit hesitant. "...Very well, I shalt allow thee all to aid me in this mission. But do exert caution. We has't no idea just how dangerous this villain is."

"Yes sir!" Shauna and Tierno responded.

"Wait, are you sure we should be doing this?" Serena asked somewhat worried.

"Yeah, shouldn't we leave this one to the professionals?" Trevor asked.

"Fear not, young children!" Wikstrom assured her. "Thou shall not be harmed as long as I art here."

The two still looked a bit unsure, but everyone else headed to the palace, leaving them with no other choice as they followed the rest.

* * *

The group headed to the gate, where a butler was blocking the gate.

"The entrance fee will be 1,000 pd per person," the butler guard informed them.

"What the hell?!" Korrina yelled. "It costs money to go inside?!"

"You see, the owner of the palace follows the school of that that you can never have too much money," the butler guard replied.

"You'd think that's why people are trying to break in," Tierno muttered.

"Yeesh! This is how the rich get richer, huh," Shauna grumbled.

"Good sir," Wikstrom stepped forward. "I art from the Pokémon League. I art the Elite Four member your master has requested to come guard and capture the villain that troubles him so. And these children art with I."

"Ah, I see," the butler said in understanding, bowing. "Right this way then, sir."

The butler went ahead and opened the golden gates for them, allowing for the group to enter the palace. Inside the palace was just as magnificent as outside the palace; with gold statuettes, chandeliers, beautifully crafted and designed decors, all decorating the interior that's covered in a bronze color. At the front was a portly man who was pacing frantically around the entrance, presumably the owner of the palace.

"Where is he?! Where could he be?!" the man frantically asked as he kept looking around. "My dear Furfrou!? Where are you!? Where have they taken you?!"

"Sir?" Wikstrom asked, getting the man's attention.

"Ah, oh! Lord Wikstrom!" the owner exclaimed, recognizing the man. "I'm surprised you came so early! I'm terribly sorry for not properly greeting you, but it would appear that my furfrou has gone missing."

"Your furfrou went missing?" Shauna asked.

"Ah, I see you brought guests with you," the owner said apologetically. "I'm sorry you caught me in a bad time..."

"A bad time...?" Serena asked.

"Ah well, you see–," the owner was about to say, until someone from behind him placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

The man who stopped him was wearing a fashionable red suit with matching red sunglasses and red hair stylized to look like red flames. The owner stiffened when the man stopped him.

"There you are," the man in the red suit said jovially. "I was wondering where you went, Mr. Parfum. You were taking a long time, so I was starting to get worried."

"A-Ah, yes...my apologies..." Mr. Parfum stammered.

"Please, let's head back so that we can continue our discussions," the man in the red suit said, before noticing the others. "Oh hello there. Visitors, I presume. Do go ahead and view the exhibits, but I suggest you not disturb us. You know, business and all, boring stuff. Isn't that right, Mr. Parfum?"

"Ah yes..." Mr. Parfum agreed. "Sir Wikstrom, please continue to survey the outside for any suspicious intruders..."

"...Very well," Wikstrom nodded.

"Do enjoy your time here," the man in red smiled as he patted Mr. Parfum's shoulder. "Now, Mr. Parfum. Let's go back and continue our discussion."

"Y-Yes..." Mr. Parfum nodded reluctantly as he and the man in red headed back in, leaving the group.

"That was weird..." Shauna commented.

While the others agreed, Serena glanced back to Calem, only noticing now his murderous glare in the direction that the man in the red suit walked off too.

"Um...Calem...? Are you alright?" Serena asked.

Calem shot his murderous glare at Serena, frightening her, before his expression softened somewhat, calming down.

"Sorry," Calem muttered.

"Hey, let's go look for that furfrou!" Shauna proposed.

"Look for the furfrou?" Serena asked.

"Yeah!" Shauna insisted. "I mean I'd be worried too if my Pokémon suddenly went missing! If he can't look for it, then let's look for the furfrou for him!"

"I-I'm not sure about that," Serena said. "I mean we don't even know where to look..."

"It couldn't have strayed that far away," Tierno said. "And if the owner is too busy to look for it, might as well try looking for it ourselves."

"I guess..." Serena mumbled.

"Alright then, let's go!" Shauna declared, immediately rushing off and exploring the palace.

"Shauna, wait!" Tierno yelled, rushing after Shauna.

Trevor sighed and followed the two, while Serena hesitated; debating to herself whether to follow her friends or follow Calem.

"They're your friends, right?" Calem asked Serena, noticing her hesitation. "You should go help them."

"I–Right, y–you have a point..." Serena mumbled. "Alright then..."

Calem nodded as Serena chased after her friends. With the four gone, Calem glanced to the direction Mr. Parfum and the man in red went, before heading off to it, with Korrina following behind him.

Which left Wikstrom by himself. The knight figured the boy and the gym leader would be fine by themselves, seeing as how they both possessed a Mega Ring. The other four trainers, on the other hand, may need to be watched over, to make sure nothing bad happens.

Making up his mind, the knight walked off to the direction where Serena and her group went; Klefki and Aegislash following in tow.

* * *

Serena eventually rendezvoused with Trevor after several minutes trying to navigate through the large corridors of the palace. Said boy had been waiting outside at the backyard garden of the palace. The garden was just as impressive as the interior; boasting huge maze-like hedges, several fountains made from marble, and several grand and glorious statues; one depicting a giant pokéball, one depicting a golurk, and two statues that were depicting Reshiram and Zekrom, the two Legendary dragon Pokémon from Unova.

"Wait, where's Shauna and Tierno?" Serena asked, looking around and seeing that the other two aren't here.

"They went off ahead," Trevor sighed. "They said they were going to search the hedge mazes."

Trevor pointed to the four large hedge mazes that neighbored one another, where Trevor pointed to the ones on the top right and the bottom left.

"They're searching there," Trevor informed her, as he pointed to the hedge mazes to the bottom right. "I'll search over there, so could you search the one on the top left?"

"Alright," Serena nodded.

"If you do find it, let us know," Trevor said.

"Of course," Serena acknowledged as the two went off to the mazes.

Serena reached the maze on the top left, where she released her team, just in case something happened. The three Pokémon looked up to their trainer, wondering what was going on.

"We're looking for a furfrou," Serena said.

"-Right,-" Marisso nodded.

"-That's easy!-" Salamé scoffed.

"-You say that now,-" Rill rolled her eyes.

"C'mon, let's go," Serena said as she ventured into the maze.

The Pokémon followed their trainer into the maze. Compared to what she saw of the other hedges from the high point that was the entrance to the backyard, the maze she was in right now wasn't as complicated or elaborate as she assumed and was easily able to make her way through the maze. As she reached the end, she heard a faint barking noise.

"-I guess we found it,-" Marisso said.

"-See, told you this was easy,-" Salamé snorted.

Serena and her Pokémon turned around the corner to a large dead end, where there was another man in a red suit with red sunglasses, with a bipedal, humanoid Pokémon covered in gray skin with four arms, manhandling a dog-like Pokémon with thick, white fur in one arm with ease.

"Oh, what's this?" the man asked.

"-You were saying?-" Rill asked Salamé.

"It would seem my cover's be blown already," the man sighed. "What's a pretty little girl doing here, anyways? The exhibits are inside the palace."

"W-What're you doing with the furfrou?" Serena demanded nervously.

"Well, if you must know, I'm keeping the furfrou here so that its precious owner, who just so happens to be the owner of the palace will cooperate with us," the man explained. "When people have important things used against them, they do tend to be more cooperative, after all."

"-That's blackmailing!-" Rill growled.

"-Oh like we care,-" the bipedal Pokémon behind the man scoffed.

"L–Let it go!" Serena yelled, somewhat intimidated by the man.

"Sorry, can't do that," the man replied. "Now, why don't you just turn around and leave, and we can forget about this little encounter and we can go about with our business."

Serena backed away slightly, but she glanced at the furfrou, struggling to break free from the Pokémon's grasp. The furfrou shot a pleading whine and look at Serena, silently begging for help. The furfrou needed help, and no matter what, she knew she needed to do something.

"N–No!" Serena shot back. "I won't let you get away with this!"

"Kid, don't you know not to play with fire?" the man asked, shaking his head. "You really wanna play the hero, don't you? Or heroine, in this case..."

Serena shot a glare at the man in the red suit, where all her Pokémon did the same, getting ready to fight.

"Oh well," the man in red sighed. "Getting my fancy suit dirty isn't the stylish way to do things, but if you insist..."

The man snapped his fingers, where the bipedal Pokémon roared, before lunging at Serena.

* * *

Serena flew back into the hedges after the Pokémon had smashed one of its fists into the ground, her Pokémon having jumped out of the way.

"Machamp, obliterate them!" the man yelled.

The humanoid, Machamp, roared as he lunged for the smaller Pokémon.

"Ugh...!" Serena groaned as she got back up. "Rill, Aqua Jet!"

Rill jumped back and shot at Machamp as a bullet of water, nailing it in the head. As Machamp faltered, Marisso and Salamé tackled into it, but that didn't make it flinch.

"Grab those two and return to sender!" the man yelled.

Machamp grabbed Marisso and Salamé, before hurling them back to Serena, who managed to catch them.

"Are you two okay?" Serena asked.

"-Yeah...-" Marisso muttered.

"-Ow my head...-" Salamé groaned.

Machamp tried to grab Rill, but the water mouse jumped back and shot a Water Gun at the Fighting-type.

"-Pesky mouse!-" Machamp growled.

"-Says the hulking muscle head,-" Rill scoffed.

"Machamp, Dynamic Punch!" the man yelled.

Machamp roared as it charged energy into its fist, before shooting a straight lunge at Rill. Upon contact, the energy exploded, shooting Rill back.

"Rill!" Serena cried as the Water-type bounced back like a ball.

Rill got back up, but began to fidget around drunkenly, completely dazed and unresponsive.

"Rill?" her trainer asked.

"Heh, didn't you know?" the man asked, waving his finger tauntingly. "Dynamic Punch always confuses the opponent upon contact. Now, Poison Jab!"

One of Machamp's fists glowed bright purple, where the hulking Fighting-type lunged at the incapacitated Rill.

"Rill, no!" Serena cried, dropping Marisso and Salamé.

Finally being released to the ground, Marisso lunged for Rill, grabbed her, and moved out of the way, just in time to avoid the Poison Jab.

"Marisso! Nice job!" Serena exclaimed happily, before seeing an opening. "Salamé, Dragon Rage!"

Salamé growled as he shot a blue shockwave at Machamp's head, sending the bipedal back a bit.

"That didn't do much..." Serena mumbled, where Salamé looked frustrated. "Marisso, Vine Whip! Salamé, Flame Burst!"

Marisso lunged forward as he produced vines from his collar, before smacking them across Machamp's legs, causing the Fighting-type to kneel slightly in pain, leaving it wide open for Salamé to shoot a Flame Burst in its face. Before it could do anything, Marisso and Salamé rammed into it, causing it to fall on its behind.

"Hmph, you're not half bad," the man mused as Machamp got back up. "Although those little Pokémon of yours won't be enough to take down my machamp!"

Marisso and Salamé glared at the man and Machamp, while Rill was still confused. Serena shared the sentiment the two tykes were probably feeling, but the man had a point. Even if it was three against one, the machamp was clearly much stronger than Marisso, Salamé and Rill combined.

"Doesn't mean we're gonna give up!" Serena yelled back in spite of that.

"Oh really?" the man asked as Machamp lifted Furfrou. "Can you continue battling knowing you might hurt the poor doggie?"

"Wha–?!" Serena blurted.

"What, you didn't expect me to use the dog to my advantage?" the man sneered. "This isn't a battle with rules, anything's fair and square!"

Great. While she knew the machamp had furfrou in its clutches, now that it was actively using it as a shield, it would be much harder to take the machamp down without hurting the furfrou. They needed to get Furfrou out of its clutches.

"What's the matter?" the man asked as Machamp flaunted Furfrou around like a rag doll. "Suddenly can't attack?"

Serena and her Pokémon gritted their teeth, knowing full-well that the moment they try to attack, the machamp will just simply shield itself with Furfrou.

"Well if you won't do anything, then allow me! Earthquake!" the man yelled.

Machamp proceeded to punch the ground, causing a tremor in the ground to violently shake, making her Pokémon lose their balance and cause faulting plates of the ground to smash into them. The violent tremors continued to advance towards Serena.

"AAAAAH!" Serena screamed, shielding herself from the incoming attack.

"King's Shield!"

Before the Earthquake could reach her, Aegislash appeared out of nowhere and deployed a lustrous barrier from its shield, defending her from the Earthquake.

"What the–?!" the man gasped.

"Wha–Aegislash...?" Serena muttered, recognizing the sword.

"Where did this thing come from–AGAAGAGAGAA?!" the man shrieked in pain, being electrocuted from behind.

As the man fell, Machamp glanced over to see what happened. From behind, Klefki emerged with a rather devious expression on its face, before proceeding to unleash a Thunder Wave on Machamp, paralyzing the Fighting-type and forcing it to let go of Furfrou. The dog rejoiced, before rushing over to Serena. From behind Serena, Wikstrom emerged from the hedges as Klefki floated back to his side.

"Hither me, evildoer," Wikstrom proclaimed. "I shalt not allow thee to harm the fair maiden any longer!"

"Mr. Wikstrom!" Serena exclaimed.

"Thee did well, young lass," Wikstrom said. "Thou has't much courage to visage a daunting foe as this villain. Thou should beest proud of thyself."

"Tch, an Elite Four member?!" the man muttered. "This wasn't part of the plan!"

"As for thee, evil scum," Wikstrom turned his gaze to the man in red. "Prepare thyself, and gust the wrath of the blade of justice!"

* * *

"Damn it! Machamp, shake it off! Use Knock Off!" the man hastily yelled.

"Parry it and punish with Sacred Sword!" Wikstrom commanded.

As Machamp mustered enough strength to lunge for Aegislash, the sword quickly removed itself from its shield and parried the incoming attack with its shield, before the blade glowed brightly, which Aegislash used to strike down Machamp, knocking it out in one hit.

"S-So strong...!" Serena gaped at how Aegislash was able to take out Machamp in one single strike.

"Damn it!" the man growled as he managed to get back up and recall Machamp.

"Has't thee hadst enough?" Wikstrom asked.

"Tch! You think I'm done?!" the man yelled, before he took out a switch. "We figured things would go south, so we set up a bomb hidden in the palace!"

"A bomb?!" Serena screamed.

"That's right! If the owner blabs, we would blow his place up to kingdom come!" the man hissed.

"A bomb, aye?" Wikstrom asked, before pointing above him. "Pray tell, dost thou meaneth that one over there?"

They all glanced up to see a blue, rock Pokémon that had a large red nose with a bushy black mustache, floating above with three small objects circling around a large metal contraption that was floating along with them.

"What in the–?!" the man blurted.

"What is that?" Serena asked, scanning the new Pokemon.

"Probopass, the compass Pokémon," the pokédex read. "It exudes strong magnetism from all over. It controls three small units called Mini-Noses."

"I hadst Probopass scout the area for any traps thee may has't setteth up," Wikstrom explained. "He is currently holding it using its powers over electromagnetism."

"Wow..." Serena said in awe.

"Now, Probobpass! Throw it to the heavens, and destroy that foul contraption with Power Gem!" Wikstrom yelled.

The Mini-Noses lifted the bomb and repelled it high into the air, where Probopass created several jewel-like energy projectiles and shot them at the bomb; the jewels piercing through the bomb and letting it explode.

"I-Impossible..." the man gaped.

"Stand down, villain," Wikstrom said sternly, where the man slumped down in defeat.

"Th-thank you, Mr. Wikstrom..." Serena mumbled.

"Ah, no thanks are necessary," Wikstrom said jovially. "Thy has't shown impressive valor and determination! Thou shall become a fine trainer in the future."

"Seréééééééé!"

The others turned around to see Shauna, who was panting while having dragged Tierno and Trevor with her.

"Give us a warning next time, Shauna," Trevor murmured, his head somewhat dizzy.

"I'm surprised she can carry us like this," Tierno muttered.

"Shauna?" Serena asked.

"I heard some noise here, so I got Trevor and Tierno and rushed here as fast as I could!" Shauna panted. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Serena mumbled. "Mr. Wikstrom saved me at the last second."

"Ah, thy give me too much credit," Wikstrom held his hand up. "Thy has't battled the heinous villain before I showed up. Thou art a brave lass."

"I-I guess..." Serena murmured, blushing in embarrassment from the praise.

The furfrou jumped up into Serena's arm, before licking her cheek affectionately, most likely as its way of thanking her.

"Hey you found the furfrou!" Tierno exclaimed.

"Haha, you're welcome," Serena giggled.

"Now then," Wikstrom said, grabbing the man in the red suit by the neck. "Let us report this to the owner."

* * *

The group managed to reach Mr. Parfum's office, where they entered to see Calem having restrained the man in red while Korrina was guarding Mr. Parfum. There was a large, purple scorpion-like Pokémon, knocked out and fallen on the floor where Blaziken was stepping on it.

"What in blazes is this?" Wikstrom asked.

Everyone glanced to the entering group, where Mr. Parfum shot ot of his seat upon seeing his furfrou.

"Furfrou! Thank goodness!" Mr. Parfum rejoiced.

The dog jumped out of Serena's arms and rushed over into Mr. Parfum's embrace.

"Thank goodness you're alright," Mr. Parfum said. "Thank you for finding my furfrou!"

"You have this young lady to show your gratitude to," Wikstrom said, beckoning to Serena. "This fair lady put up a forefront in fighting the man keeping your furfrou in its clutches."

"Wait, what happened to the bomb?!" the man in red that Calem was restraining demanded.

"It has been swiftly dealt with," Wikstrom scoffed. "Now, you two will be reported to the authorities."

Calem acknowledged Wikstrom and hurled the man in red he was holding back over to him; the knight catching the second man in red in his free hand.

"Now then, I shall be on my way," Wikstrom said, before turning to Serena. "Fair lady. What is thy name?"

"Huh? It's Serena. Serena Yvonne," Serena answered.

"And are thou pursuing the gym badges?" Wikstrom asked.

"Yep!" Shauna answered for Serena. "She's gonna beat all the gym leaders, you just wait!"

"W-Well I'm not sure about that..." Serena mumbled.

"Well then, Miss Serena," Wikstrom said. "If thou art able to collect all eight gym badges and qualify for the Pokémon League, then perhaps we wilt has't the opportunity to square in the field of battle."

"S-Square?" Serena asked.

"He wants to fight you at the Pokémon League," Trevor whispered to Serena.

"Ah," Serena mouthed.

"I wilt beest weaiting for the day we doth battle," Wikstrom chuckled. "Until then, hone thy skills as a trainer."

And with that, Wikstrom strode off, dragging the two men in red with him. Calem glanced over to Serena's group, approaching them.

"Hm, so it looks like you all had an interesting time out there," Calem commented.

"Seré's the hero here," Shauna said. "She's the one that actually found the other guy."

"I-I didn't do that much..." Serena said quietly, blushing and glancing away.

"Hmph, yeah right," Calem snorted. "You managed to impress an Elite Four member; you must've done something."

"I-I guess..." Serena replied meekly.

"Anyways, good work," Calem complimented. "Without your help, we would've been stuck in a stalemate over here. Didn't even know they set up a bomb here. Luckily you all managed to deal with it."

"R-Really?" Serena asked, perking up.

"Yeah," Calem nodded. "Good work out there."

"Th-thank you!" Serena exclaimed, internally rejoicing.

From where she was, Korrina was staring at Serena, noting how the honey-blonde girl became much happier when Calem complimented her. She also noted Serena's blush.

"Hmmm, oh I see..." Korrina muttered, an impish smile forming on her face.

"Regardless, this is a joyous day!" Mr. Parfum announced. "I cannot thank all of you enough for your help!"

"It's no biggie," Tierno replied.

"I know! A situation like this demands fireworks!" Mr. Parfum declared. "We shall put on a show–boom, boom! We'll commemorate this joyous occasion and my gratitude to you wonderful children with a tremendous fireworks display! I shall have it prepared ASAP!"

* * *

By the time Mr. Parfum and his workers had finished setting up the fireworks show, it had already become nighttime; perfect for fireworks. The group was treated to lunch and dinner at the palace as part of Mr. Parfum's token of appreciation. Currently everyone was at the balcony, awaiting Mr. Parfum's fireworks display.

"Wow, fireworks!" Shauna gushed. "It's been ages since we've seen a fireworks show!"

"Right," Serena replied, before glancing at Calem, whom she was standing next to. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, what did those guys want with Mr. Parfum anyways?"

"Hm? They were extorting money from him," Calem replied. "Unfortunately they already got the money they wanted and sent it to their group, but we were able to stop him before they could do anything else."

"How much money?" Tierno asked.

"Over 50 million pd," Calem said.

"Jesus–! That's a lot of money!" Shauna gasped.

"But, what do they plan to do with all that money?" Trevor asked.

"Duh, be rich." Shauna retorted.

"No, not that," Trevor said. "Calem said that they sent the money to a group, so what's that group planning to do with so much money? I highly doubt getting it for money's sake is the reason; especially if they even set up a bomb just to get the money."

"You have a point..." Shauna commented, before shrugging. "Oh well, no use thinking about it now. Let's just enjoy the fireworks."

"Shauna's right, Trevs, we can think about all this later," Tierno added. "Let's just enjoy ourselves."

"I guess..." Trevor muttered.

As Shauna, Tierno and Trevor continued to talk, Korrina shifted from her spot next to Calem towards Serena.

"Good work out there today!" Korrina congratulated, giving Serena a hearty pat on the back. "You must be tired after everything that's happened today!"

"Y-Yeah..." Serena mumbled, coughing slightly.

"But still, if you managed to impress Wikstrom of all people, then you gotta be a good trainer," Korrina said. "Now I'm really looking forward to when you reach the Shalour Gym!"

"I guess..." the honey-blonde girl mumbled.

"C'mon! Have some more confidence!" Korrina guffawed, giving Serena another pat on the back. "Who knows, sooner or later you might catch up to Cal-chan!"

"You think so?" Serena asked.

"Sure! You can do it!" Korrina encouraged the honey-blonde. "Oh, speaking of which."

Korrina turned to Calem; the boy in the middle of his own thoughts.

"Hey Cal-chan, that Parfum guy wanted to see you," Korrina said.

Calem raised an eyebrow at his childhood friend, but shrugged and went off regardless. Once Calem was out of earshot, Korrina narrowed her eyes at Serena.

"So, Serena," Korrina said. "You have a crush on Cal-chan, don't you?"

"Wh-What?!" Serena blurted, her face heating up.

"Yeah, that's confirmation alright," Korrina said. "Look, I know why you would fall in love with Cal-chan. I mean he's really strong, cool, fun to mess with and troll, really nice once you get past his edgy elitist attitude, and _really_ good in bed."

"Y-Yeah–Wait what?!" Serena shrieked, catching onto that last part.

"I'm kidding on that last part," Korrina quickly assured Serena. "But regardless, there are many reasons to get a crush on him, am I right?"

"I-Y-Yeah..." Serena muttered.

"Uh huh," Korrina nodded. "I understand for falling for Cal-chan, since he has his many perks underneath his many faults, but just know this!"

Korrina pointed a finger at her; a determined expression written all over the gym leader's face.

"I won't lose!" Korrina declared. "As two women in love with the same man, all's fair in love and war! And from now on, you are my rival in this war of love, Serena!"

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wha–?!" Serena blurted in complete shock.

"You sure you don't wanna step up your game now?!" Shauna called out from the sideline.

Serena didn't know how to react or what to do, but fortunately she was saved by Calem's timely intervention, having walked in right as soon as Korrina finished her declaration.

"What the hell're you yelling about Korrina?" Calem grumbled.

"Cal-chan!" Korrina blurted. "Did you hear anything I said?"

"What? No," Calem muttered, before turning to the flustered Serena. "What did you do to her?"

"Oh nothing," Korrina said, turning to her. "We were just having a friendly girl-to-girl convo, right?"

"R-Right," Serena muttered.

"If you say so," Calem muttered as he returned to his spot. "Mr. Parfum said the fireworks are about to start."

Korrina nodded, before going back to her spot next to Calem, leaving with a rather mischievous smile on her face. Serena groaned, before returning to her spot. Not long after, a light shot up into the sky, before exploding into a burst of burning lights formed to look like a pokéball, before several other lights shot up, bursting into several fireworks shaped like several different Pokémon.

"Wow..." Shauna said in awe at the grand fireworks.

Serena stared at the fireworks in awe, before sighing. A lot happened today. She met a gym leader, who just happened to be Calem's childhood friend, learned a lot more about Calem, ended up stopping a crime, impressed a member of the Elite Four, and ended up making a rival for Calem's affection.

Serena blushed at that last part. Honestly, she didn't know how she feels about Calem. At first it was admiration for his tremendous strength and independence; it was something she always desired. But quickly enough it grew from admiration into something more. And with how Korrina bluntly put it, it might as well be love.

Serena glanced at Calem, who was staring at the fireworks with an unreadable expression on his face. Even if she did have a crush on him, there was no doubt he would rather have someone who could keep up with him by his side. And she was nowhere near his level as it is. Korrina, however, was closer.

...If Korrina wanted to declare war, then so be it. She'll get stronger. Slowly, but surely, she'll reach their level and be able to stand on equal grounds with them. And from there, they'll decide who will win this war of love and admiration.

Committing that determination to herself, Serena looked back up to the festive skies.

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN:** Well at least you know what you want to do now, Serena. Too bad you gained a rival in Korrina. So yeah, a lot of things happened. Korrina makes her debut as Calem's extremely peppy childhood friend and love rival to Serena, Wikstrom from the Elite Four makes an early debut, and y'all should know who the red suits are assuming you all know X and Y. Also I'd like to mention that one of the reasons this got delayed was due to Wikstrom. Since the man speaks in a medieval dialect, and I know jackshit of how to write like that, I pretty much had to work my ass off trying to write Wikstrom's speech patterns and lines, even resorting to using one of those weird shakespearean translators (and even then I'm not sure whether half of the crap Wikstrom spewed out is right or not). If any of you are familiar with medieval English, then I'd appreciate it if you could tell me how good I did with writing up the knight's dialogue.

And here're the rosters:

Serena: Marisso (Chespin) / Rill (Marill) / Salamé (Charmander)

Calem: Blaziken / Froakie / Scyther / Bulbasaur

Shauna: Kinniekins (Fennekin) / Kitkat (Skitty) / Squirts (Squirtle)

Tierno: Corphish / Fletchling / Budew

Trevor: Flabébé / Pikachu

And that should be it. Hopefully the next chapter won't take fucking four months (probably won't but no promises). And now, since it's like 3:30 at night right now, I should go to sleep.

Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time and take care.


	6. Heart to Heart

**Fidelity**

 **Chapter 6: Heart to Heart**

* * *

 **AN:** Okay this time around I actually have no excuses, other than procrastination. Also Pokemon GO later down the road once I got a new phone. That shit is strangely addicting. Also helps that it encouraged me to not be a lazy fatass all summer and go outside. It also helped me shed a few pounds too, which is pretty good ngl. But regardless, I was able to get this done before my summer break completely ended. Not one of my best works in my opinion, but I think it's good enough.

Oh yeah and Sun and Moon info. That's been taking my attention away from this. Seriously I NEED them. I NEED to have my flying railgun-beetle, electric-fairy totem pole chicken deity thing, giant fucking mud horse with the broken ass ability, and poison lizard that can poison Steels and Poisons. Oh yeah and Alolan Marowak and Raichu. I need those.

Moving on; to reviews!

 **to ra:** Yeah I kinda figured the castle/mansion area would be a good place to throw Kalos's resident knight in. Also his ye olde English was hard to emulate holy crap. I don't even know if it's accurate or not. But I'm glad you like it at least.

 **Tony Anderson:** Thanks!

 **Guest (May 31):** Thanks! I'm trying to flesh out a lot more characters in this one, since a good majority of them were pretty flat in the canon games. I felt they could've done a lot more in the games with the roster they had in XY. Oh well, that's why we have fanfics, right?

 **FantasyLover88:** Thanks! And hey, who knows, things could turn out differently ;)

 **Anonymous Trainer:** Huh, well that's interesting. You know more about Shakespearean than I do. That's pretty cool ngl. Regardless, thanks for the feedback, I had no idea how to write out Wikstrom's dialogue at first. I googled medieval translator and the first thing that popped up was English to Shakespeare translator. Which was good enough for me at the moment. So I'm gonna have to work on that for later chapters, when I'm gonna need Wikstrom to appear again. Glad you liked Korrina's entrance though.

 **DragonXDelinquent:** I dunno man, maybe Serena will outgrow her crush. Or maybe it'll develop into a full-blown love. Who knows.

 **Knight of Wings:** Welcome back. And I'm glad you liked the expansion in settings and character development I had in the last chapter. Also glad you liked how I introduced Korrina and Wikstrom. And as for Shauna, Tierno and Trevor being able to use Mega Evolution, I'm honestly not too sure. I mean yes, it's kinda sad that they weren't able to use it in the games, but it was justified, given they were only accessed to more skilled trainers like yourself or Lysandre, and they admitted in the games that they felt that they wouldn't be able to use it. All and all, I'm not too sure about this just yet. Maybe Shauna since she has the blastoisinite, but idk yet.

 **Unpropro:** No worries at all, I'm just glad you like my stories! :) And a story where all the protagonists meet up huh...that could be arranged in the future...

 **I M Poik:** Glad you like Wikstrom and Korrina. And regarding Serena, I understand that you don't seem to like her as much as the other protagonists I did. Frankly I can't blame you since you're comparing her to Hilbert, Dawn, and especially Nate. I also can't blame you in thinking that Serena is arguably kinda flat outside of her phobias and fixation on Calem, and that Calem is more interesting since he arguably fits the archetype of protagonists I have going in three other stories. Hopefully I can remedy that and develop her into a more unique character (which is kinda the goal anyways), but who knows.

And Shauna's starting to annoy you huh...interesting.

 **Regina D'Inverno:** Well hello there! And welcome aboard! No worries, your English isn't terrible, and I can understand you just fine. I'm glad you like the story so far, with all the characters and what not. I hope you continue to enjoy the story as it keeps going :)

Now that I look at this, you all seem to like Wikstrom and Korrina. That's good. Alright moving on.

* * *

"Ah, look guys! We made it out!" Shauna informed everyone.

The next morning following the events that had happened in the Parfum Palace, Serena and her friends departed from the palace to reach their next destination. By the time they had woken up, Wikstrom had already left for the Pokémon League after handing over the detained intruders to the police, Korrina had already left for Shalour City at the request of her grandfather, and Calem had disappeared without a trace.

After going through Route 7 and trekking through the Connecting Cave, the group finally got out of the cave and reached the outside. They found themselves on top of a large and steep cliff as they exited the cave.

"Wow..." Serena said as she gazed off the cave, before spotting a town far off from where they were. "Is that Cyllage City?"

"That's right," Trevor answered. "It's a city located near the beaches, famous for its many terrain sports-related facilities and huge cycling track. It also has a League Gym there."

"Really?" Serena asked as she released her team to let them enjoy the fresh air.

"Yeah," Trevor nodded. "I'm pretty sure the gym leader specializes in Rock-types."

"Rock-types, huh," Serena said, before glancing to Marisso and Rill. "Hm, Marisso and Rill would be good choices against the gym then."

"-Hey, what about me?-" Salamé perked up, getting Serena's attention. "-I wanna fight in a gym!-"

"Huh? Oh, I think Salamé wants to fight in the gym too," Serena told Trevor.

"Uh...I'm not sure Salamé would be the best choice..." Trevor said nervously. "I mean, Fire-types are pretty weak to Rock-types after all. It wouldn't be the best place for him."

"I see..." Serena said, before glancing at Salamé apologetically. "Sorry, Salamé. But I don't think the next gym is right for you. Maybe next time, okay?"

The lizard slumped down in disappointment upon hearing the news, where Marisso and Rill did their best to comfort their friend.

"-C'mon, it's not that bad...-" Marisso offered.

"-Yeah, quit sulking about it,-" Rill chided. "-There's probably a gym where you'll be a lot more useful than us.-"

"-You think so?-" Salamé asked.

"-Yeah, of course!-" Marisso encouraged him.

The encouragement seemed to have done its job, because Salamé looked much happier. Glad to see that, Serene looked around to see what else was in the area. She decided to take out a note she had received from Mr. Parfum, whom had apparently received it from Korrina while being instructed to give it to Serena, before reading it over again.

" _Hey, Sere-chan!_

 _By the time you're reading this, then Cal-chan and I are long gone by now. I wished I could've hanged out with you and your friends some more, but Grampa called and I needed to get back to my gym. Cal-chan said he was going to head for Glittering Cave, so if you wanna go after him, there's your destination. :D_

 _You'll just have to go through Route 7, go through the Connecting Cave (there's a lot of zubats in there btw so don't make any noises), then head west at Route 8, before reaching a town called Ambrette Town, and then go through Route 9 which is south of the town. At the end of Route 9 is where Glittering Cave is. The cave is known to house fossils of old Pokémon, so maybe you guys can get lucky and get your hands on some of them. Ambrette Town is also known for having a facility that can revive fossils. I dunno if there's anything about Mega Evolution there, but it's still a good place to check out, regardless._

 _Oh and outside of Ambrette Town, there's this nice beach where you all can relax at, and then there's Cyllage City, where you can challenge the gym there._

 _Welp, that's about it for me, or else this letter's gonna become a bit too long. Hope you guys enjoy your journey! I'll be waiting for you at Shalour City and for your challenge at the Shalour Gym!_

 _-Korrina_

 _P.S. You better step your game up when you meet back up with Cal-chan and I, cuz I won't lose ;)"_

Apparently they became close enough for Serena to earn herself a nickname from Korrina. Which was nice. Within the day they met, Korrina had already proved herself to be a very nice, friendly and compassionate person, if a bit eccentric at times.

Although the way she kept goading her about their mutual fixation (and affection) over Calem is kind of annoying. Regardless, Serena was glad to have met Calem's eccentric childhood friend and gotten to know her as much as a day would allow for.

But enough of that, she needed to focus on reaching Glittering Cave.

"How much farther are we?" Tierno asked.

"Not too far," Trevor replied as he checked the map on his Holo Caster. "We're at Route 8, so if we head west, then we should make it there by 2."

"Sounds good," Tierno nodded, before glancing around. "Wait, where's Shauna?"

"Squirts, use Water Pulse!"

The trio looked around to find that Shauna wasn't around and frantically began to look for her, until they found her away from them, battling a small, spherical purple balloon-looking Pokémon with Squirts.

"A drifloon?" Trevor asked.

"I guess she wants it," Tierno shrugged.

"Wow, that's pretty cute," Serena commented as she scanned the balloon with her pokédex.

"Pokémon

"Entry data does not exist in current version of the Kalos Central Pokédex," it read.

"Huh?" Serena asked, confused at the lack of data the pokédex had on the drifloon. "Does that mean drifloon's not from Kalos?"

"That can't be right," Tierno argued. "I mean she found it living here."

"But the pokédex doesn't have any data on it," Serena countered.

"Uh, is letting her catch a drifloon a good idea?" Trevor asked, breaking up the conversation. "There's been rumors that drifloons actually kidnap children."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Tierno said. "She's not a little kid; she's fourteen."

"That's not the point here..." Trevor muttered.

Drifloon flew back and whipped up a gust of wind at Squirts, who retreated into his shell to block the attack.

"Now Squirts, Bite!" Shauna yelled.

Once the gust ended, Squirts got out of his shell and shot at Drifloon, before gnawing into the balloon harshly. Drifloon squirmed in pain as it tried to free itself by slapping Squirts with its string-like appendages.

"Hold it still, Squirts!" Shauna called out as she took out a pokéball. "Alright, go!"

Shauna hurled the pokéball at the drifloon, where Squirts threw Drifloon at the ball. The ball hit Drifloon, absorbing the balloon into it in a red light. The ball landed, shook three times, before flashing briefly and stopped any motion whatsoever.

"Yes!" Shauna squealed, before rushing over to pick up Squirts and the pokéball. "Good job, Squirts! We caught Drifloon!"

"-Hehe, easy,-" Squirts smirked, rubbing his nose somewhat cockily.

"Next time let us know before you go off trying to capture something," Tierno told her as they walked up to her.

"Uh...sorry..." Shauna mumbled sheepishly. "But I really wanted to catch it. It was just WAAAAY too cute."

"Yeah, I know," Tierno sighed, before chuckling. "Just, give us a heads up before you go off on your own like that."

"Right...sorry Tierno..." Shauna mumbled.

"It's alright," Tierno smiled.

"So you caught a drifloon, huh," Serena said.

"Yep!" Shauna replied, before releasing the aforementioned drifloon. "Isn't he just cute?"

"Yeah, he is," Serena admitted. "Wait, how do you know it's a male?"

"Uh...that's a good question..." Shauna said, before glancing to Drifloon. "Are you a boy?"

Drifloon stared at Shauna for a moment, before nodding his head (body?) in confirmation.

"He's a boy," Shauna confirmed. "Hm...If you're a boy...then I'll call you BB!"

"BB? What does that stand for?" Serena asked.

"Balloon Boy," Shauna replied.

"Wait, why does that sound familiar...?" Tierno asked.

"HEEY!"

Seemingly ignoring the question, everyone glanced over to see two familiar faces; Dexio and Sina, as they approached them.

"Fancy meeting you all here," Sina said.

"Oh hi, uh..." Serena said, trying to remember their names. "Dexio and Sina...right?"

"Right," Dexio smiled. "So how's your journey coming along so far?"

"Pretty good," Shauna replied. "So what's up? What're you two doing here?"

"We were just exploring Route 8," Sina replied. "Speaking of, haven't you wondered how a single pokédex could possibly cover a region as big as Kalos?"

"Huh?" Serena asked, glancing down at her pokédex. "It can't?"

"Unfortunately, no it can't," Dexio said. "Professor Sycamore's still working on his own National Version, but it would require time if he's working on it alone."

"But no worries!" Sina smiled. "We can power up your pokédexes!"

"Really?" Trevor asked, genuinely interested.

"If you would hand over your pokédexes, if you all would be so kindly?" Dexio asked.

All four of them handed their pokédexes to Dexio and Sina, where the two lab assistants began to fidget around with them for a while, before handing them back to their proper owners.

"There you go," Dexio said. "Now your Pokédex has the Coastal subpage added."

"Coastal?" Serena asked.

"The Coastal Kalos subpage covers Pokémon that resides in the western area of Kalos," Sina explained. "Up to this point, you were all using the Central Kalos subpage, which contained data about Pokémon that resided in the middle section of Kalos. Now you can look up data about Pokémon that reside in the western parts. Such as that drifloon your friend just caught."

Intrigued, Serena rescanned Drifloon, now christened as 'BB', with her pokédex.

"Drifloon, the balloon Pokémon. A Pokémon formed by the spirits of people and Pokémon. It loves damp, humid seasons."

"Hey, it worked," Serena noted.

"Good," Dexio nodded.

"New encounters help people and Pokémon grow and mature," Sina said. "With each new encounter, you and your Pokémon will learn more about the world and grow further."

"Is that so–?!" Serena began, until something suddenly landed in front of her, pushing her, and everyone around her, away. "Kya!"

"Whoa Seré!" Shauna exclaimed, catching her best friend. "What was that?"

Marisso, Salamé and Rill got in front of Serena in a defensive position, glaring daggers at the intruder. The intruder was a quadruped, mammalian Pokémon with a dark blue body covered in white fur with red eyes and a sickle-shaped horn on the right side of its face.

"What is that...?" Serena asked as she scanned the intruder.

"Absol, the disaster Pokémon. It senses coming disasters and appears before people only to warn them of impending danger."

"What's it doing here then...?" Serena asked.

Absol didn't move at all, merely staring at Serena for a long time.

"And why is it staring at me...?" Serena asked meekly.

"Absol, a Pokémon that appears in front of others to warn them of impending calamity," Dexio said. "It's often blamed for said calamities due to said role, but it is merely trying to warn them. Perhaps could it be trying to warn you of some impending danger...?"

"Is...Is that true...?" Serena asked Absol, before slowly approaching the Dark-type.

Before she could make any contact, Absol suddenly jumped away from her, before landing on the mountainside nearby the group. Absol gave them one last glance, before roaming off away from them.

"What was that about...?" Tierno asked.

"I don't know..." Trevor muttered. "But...could it have been warning us about something...?"

Serena stared off at the direction Absol had ran off to, still confused, yet curious about the sudden appearance of the Dark-type.

"...Well anyways, we better get going," Sina said. "We need to head back to Professor Sycamore."

"You're leaving already?" Shauna asked.

"Yeah, we shouldn't be staying here too long," Dexio admitted. "We already accomplished everything we need here anyways. Are you all heading to Ambrette Town?"

"Yes, actually," Trevor replied.

"Well, it shouldn't be too far from here," Dexio said. "Just head west from here and it should be a 20 minute walk."

"Thank you," Tierno said his gratitude on the group's behalf.

"No problem," Dexio said. "Now then, we better get going now."

"Right," Sina nodded. "Alright then, enjoy your journey. Bon voyage!"

With that, the two assistants left, leaving the group to their own business.

"Alright then," Tierno said. "If Ambrette Town's not too far from here, then we should get going."

"Right," everyone else agreed.

As the group headed towards Ambrette Town, Serena couldn't help but think about the absol that suddenly intruded on the group briefly. It may have been random, but surely a Pokémon with such a role would have a reason for showing up in front of her. If what the pokédex entry and what Dexio said was true, did the absol show up to try to warn them of something?

And if so, what exactly was it trying to warn them about?

* * *

"Aerial Ace!"

At Calem's command, Scyther disappeared, avoiding the opposing mienshao's Force Palm, before striking the Fighting-type from behind with a strong slice. Mienshao stepped back in response, only for Scyther to lunge forward and smash his foot into its gut. Before Mienshao could recover from the blow, Scyther was already floating above the Fighting-type.

"Brick Break!"

Before Mienshao could react, Scyther slammed one of his blades down upon its head, smashing his head and knocking out the ermine. The mantis flew back down towards Calem as Mienshao fainted.

"Good work," Calem said to Scyther, complimenting his battling.

Scyther nodded in response, relatively pleased with the compliment and his overall performance. The mantis then glanced at the pokéball on Calem's belt. Specifically, Blaziken's cherish ball, before glowering slightly.

Their first and only battle was still fresh in Scyther's mind. Never before had he ever been beaten down so ruthlessly. He wanted closure, but he knew he was currently not strong enough to take on his trainer's inarguable ace. And thus, he needed to get stronger, and relished on any training he could get.

Calem, meanwhile, was slowly starting to get frustrated.

"Damn it...not one showed up..." Calem muttered. "They shouldn't be _that_ rare..."

Calem was currently searching for a certain Pokémon, or at least a member of said Pokémon's species, which were only located in Route 8 of Kalos. So far, he had no luck in finding one, but on the bright side, he was able to find suitable opponents to train Scyther. He had Froakie and Bulbasaur train against each other while he trained Scyther personally, feeling that he had neglected the Bug-type recently. But none of that changed the fact that he hasn't found his target yet, in spite of searching all morning, ever since he reached the area four hours ago.

Frustrated, the boy took a bottle of water he had purchased on his way here, before chugging down the remaining contents of it. Noticing this, Calem checked his bag to see that he needed to restock on supplies.

"Tch...Well I better head to Ambrette and find a shop..." Calem muttered. "Let's just look a little longer..."

The boy glanced around, searching for any new opponent. He glanced up to the nearby mountainside, noticing an absol roaming across it. The absol glanced at Calem for a second, before resuming its path. Calem raised an eyebrow, before dismissing it, and resuming his search.

After some more time passed, Calem glanced at his watch, noting the time.

"It's almost noon," Calem muttered, before sighing. "Better head back to Ambrette, then try again later..."

"Calem?"

The boy turned around to find Serena and her friends, approaching him.

"You guys," Calem muttered. "...I guess if I wasted that much time, then you all would catch up..."

"What're you doing here?" Serena asked. "I figured you'd be way ahead of us by now."

"...I'm trying to find a Pokémon I want to catch here," Calem decided to reveal. "...But I've hadn't have the best luck finding it..."

"Which one?" Shauna asked.

"A bagon," Calem revealed. "The line only reside in Route 8, so I wanted to find and capture a member of the line here."

"A member of the bagon line...?" Trevor asked, before looking around, searching for a member of the line. "...You mean like that one?"

"What!?" Calem blurted, before darting his eyes towards where Trevor was pointing.

From near the edge of the cliff they were all on, a quadruped Pokémon that resembled some sort of pupal stage with four stubby legs and an opening in the front which revealed two yellow eyes was staring up at the sky, minding its own business.

"Wow, what Pokémon is that?" Serena asked as she scanned the Pokémon with her pokédex.

"Shelgon, the endurance Pokémon. Its armored body makes all attacks bounce off. The armor is too tough, however, making it heavy and somewhat sluggish."

"It's also the evolved form of Bagon," Trevor pointed out, glancing at Calem. "So that would be what you're looking for."

"Wow, you must've had some bad luck if Trevs could find the thing you were looking for in 15 seconds," Shauna said.

"Scyther!" Calem snarled, ignoring Shauna and pointing to Shelgon.

Getting the memo (and raring to get into another battle), Scyther immediately sprinted towards Shelgon as he brandished his two blades. Shelgon noticed Scyther lunging for it and immediately braced itself as Scyther slammed his blade against the hard shell. The blade bounced back, forcing Scyther to jump back.

"-Hey! What's your deal?!-" Shelgon growled in a feminine voice.

"-You're a girl?!-" Scyther blurted.

"-What, you got a problem with that?!-" Shelgon asked.

"X-Scissor!" Calem yelled, snapping Scyther out of his stupor.

The mantis lunged at Shelgon before striking her with the attack, pushing Shelgon back. Shelgon glowered at Scyther, before repeatedly stomping the ground as a raging aura surged around her.

"What?!" Calem blurted.

"That's Dragon Dance!" Tierno gasped rather enthusiastically.

"Tch! Swords Dance!" Calem growled in retaliation.

Scyther held his blades up, as several swords began to circle around him, before dissipating on eby one into red mist that flowed into Scyther, bolstering his power. Shelgon stopped her stomping, before reeling back and bulleting towards Scyther.

"Meet it with X-Scissor!" Calem yelled.

Scyther brandished his blades and clashed against Shelgon, as the dragon pushed Scyther back. Scyther gritted his teeth as he managed to push Shelgon back, before wincing from the pain that collision inflicted him. Shelgon, meanwhile, managed to shake it off with relative ease.

"Tch, Double-Edge..." Calem muttered, recognizing the move. "And it didn't get any recoil, so its Ability is Rock Head..."

Shelgon glared at Scyther, before charging at him once more.

"Ah, it's coming!" Serena informed Calem.

"I know that!" Calem grumbled out of frustration. "Aerial Ace!"

Right before Shelgon could hit Scyther, the mantis disappeared, making the dragon stop in her tracks.

"-Huh?-" Shelgon asked, looking around in confusion. As Shelgon looked around, Scyther suddenly reappeared besides her and sliced Shelgon cleanly.

Shelgon fell to the ground, faltering from the surprise attack. Shelgon growled as she got back up, before stomping her feet in anger. Shelgon roared, before suddenly glowing.

"What?!" Calem blurted.

"I-It's evolving!" Tierno gasped.

Shelgon growled as she changed shape, growing out of her round structure and growing bigger. Once the light dispersed, in place of Shelgon stood a quadruped, draconic Pokémon with a long tapering tail, and two large, red wings.

"Salamence!" Trevor gaped.

Calem gritted his teeth, clearly frustrated that the shelgon evolved at such a timing.

"-So what?!-" Scyther growled as he lunged at Salamence.

"Scyther, wait–!" Calem yelled.

Scyther brought his blade down upon Salamence, but she easily flew away, avoiding the blade. Salamence sneered at the mantis as she spewed intense flames at the bug, forcing him to defend himself to no avail. Eventually Scyther fell to the ground, roasted by Salamence's Flamethrower.

"Tch..." Calem clicked his tongue as he recalled Scyther.

Before Calem could switch out for Blaziken, Salamence sneered at Calem, before taking off.

"Wha–No wait!" Calem yelled to no avail, as Salamence flew away.

* * *

"Goddamn it..." Calem grumbled, stomping his foot onto the ground in frustration.

"A-Are you alright?" Serena asked meekly.

"Ugh...yeah...just frustrated," Calem sighed, knowing it wouldn't be any use to be angry about the failed capture.

"So you were planning to add that salamence onto your team?" Tierno asked.

"Yeah," Calem replied. "But apparently that failed..."

"That was a pretty rare shelgon–salamence though," Trevor pointed out. "Not many know Dragon Dance...that's usually a move that needs to be bred onto a bagon from its parents."

"Yeah, I know," Calem grumbled. "...Damn it I wasted enough time here as it is...I better rest up at Ambrette first though..."

"You're going?" Shauna asked, noticing Calem collect his things.

"Yeah," Calem nodded. "Thanks anyways, for helping me find the shelgon...I suppose it was thanks to you all that it showed up to begin with."

"Ah, you're headed for the Glittering Cave, r-right?" Serena asked.

Calem stopped in his tracks, before shooting a glare at Serena, making the girl flinch a little.

"How do you know that?" Calem asked.

"Uh well..." Serena mumbled, taking out Korrina's note and handing it to Calem.

The boy glanced through the note, before scowling at the paper.

"Damn it, Korr..." Calem hissed under his breath. "I can't ever tell if she's helping me or trying to screw with me..."

"Why do you want to go to the Glittering Cave, anyways, if you don't mind us asking?" Tierno asked.

"...I just need to go there..." Calem replied in a strained voice before handing the note back to Serena. "For your own good, I suggest you don't follow me."

"Huh? But why?" Serena asked.

"...Just don't," Calem grumbled, almost pleadingly. "Now then..."

Without another word, Calem left the group, heading towards Ambrette Town.

"Is Glittering Cave a dangerous place?" Shauna asked.

"I don't know," Trevor responded. "Glittering Cave isn't a dangerous place; it's a tourist spot."

"Then why did Calem warn us not to go there then?" Shauna followed up.

"For now, let's just head to Ambrette Town," Tierno chimed in. "Maybe we can find out what's going on there."

"Right," Trevor said as the group headed to Ambrette Town, before noticing Serena's conflicted expression. "Serena?"

"Huh? What's wrong, Trevor?" Serena asked.

"Are you alright?" Trevor asked. "...Are you worried about Calem?"

"I...Yeah..." Serena mumbled as they followed Shauna and Tierno.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Trevor assured her. "He's proven that he can take care of himself."

Serena nodded somewhat reluctantly, but couldn't help but be worried. With that absol that suddenly showed up, that salamence now roaming free to do whatever it want, and now with Calem subtly warning them not to go to Glittering Cave...the blonde couldn't help but worry. Was this what the absol was trying to warn them about? Or was there something else...?

* * *

Eventually the crew reached Ambrette Town. The town was situated on the edge of a seaside cliff, among the other cliffs that made a good portion of Route 8. A narrow coastline neighbored the city, where a vast and beautiful ocean expanded out towards a nearby beach. The group had immediately rested up at the pokécenter, healing up their teams, before leaving the center and deciding to go around to gather information.

Apparently the Glittering Cave, once a tourist attraction where rhyhorns trained by the locals were available to cross the rocky roads of Route 9, was currently blocked off by the public. Some rather suspicious people were spotted at the cave, with several helicopters stationed there. When confronted, the suspicious people had scared the people off, using violent methods such as having Pokémon attack the civilians, discouraging them from approaching the cave. Now the cave, and the entirety of Route 9 for that matter, was closed off for the time being.

"Do you happen to know what the person looked like?" Trevor asked a person.

"They had some weird red hairstyles..." the person said. "And they were wearing these admittedly snazzy red suits with equally snazzy red sunglasses."

"Red suits..." Trevor muttered, recognizing the attire. "Thank you very much for your time."

The man nodded in response and made his merry way, before Trevor regrouped with the others.

"There's no mistaking it," Trevor said. "It's the red suits from yesterday."

"Those red guys?" Serena paled, remembering the red intruders from the Parfum Palace.

"No one else fits the description," Trevor said. "And considering what happened yesterday, it's highly likely..."

"But what do those red guys want with Glittering Cave?" Shauna asked.

"Well, the Glittering Cave is known to have many Pokémon fossils..." Trevor deduced. "Perhaps that could be their aim."

"Wait, isn't Calem headed there right now?" Serena asked. "You don't think..."

"...Perhaps Calem's after the guys in red," Trevor proposed.

"You sure...?" Tierno asked.

"There wouldn't really be any other explanation," Trevor replied. "Knowing Calem, he probably wouldn't be after the fossils, but rather them."

"So what do we do?" Shauna asked. "Do we just go after him then?"

"I'm not sure...It wouldn't be the best of ideas considering what everyone else is saying..." Trevor mumbled, before turning to Serena. "Serena, what do you think?"

"Huh?" Serena asked. "Uh..."

Trevor did have a good point; if the people of Ambrette had closed off Route 9, then that meant the perpetrators were that dangerous. It wouldn't be the best idea to carelessly head for a place like that. Especially with all the forewarnings Route 8 subtly gave her. There was bound to be something that would go horribly wrong once they entered Route 9.

...However, in spite of all that, surely Calem must've found a way in and was more than likely there if he wasn't here. In spite of all the warnings the people here said, Calem would've most likely headed there regardless, probably to hunt down the men in red suits that may or may not be at Glittering Cave.

"...We should go there," Serena declared, her expression hardening with determination.

"Are you sure?" Shauna asked.

"We can't just leave this be," Serena said. "This is a serious problem, and we shouldn't just ignore it."

"You have a point," Tierno agreed somewhat. "But what they're much stronger than us...? It's probably likely since they were able to keep an entire town away..."

"We should at least try...right?" Serena asked.

"...I guess..." Trevor said. "Although we should approach this carefully. We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into...so we need to be careful at all costs."

"Right," everyone agreed.

With everyone in mutual agreement, they headed towards the south of the town, heading for Route 9, while preparing themselves for what would wait for them ahead at the route.

* * *

Salamence roared as she soared through the skies of Route 9 with glee. Today was a good day.

She finally reached evolution and was able to fulfill her dreams of soaring through the vast, blue skies to her heart's content. Now she was no longer bound to the ground, forced to trudge around as a shelgon. Salamence was much more nimble, faster, agile and lighter than compared to her fat self as Shelgon. Albeit she felt that she was much frailer when compared to herself as shelgon; having a hard shell for a body did have its perks when it came to defenses.

Salamence supposed she had to thank that boy with the scyther for fighting her and inadvertently helping her reach evolution. Ah well, nothing she could do now.

As Salamence kept soaring, she noticed a lone absol perched on top of a cliff, seemingly crouching and leering at something.

"-Hm?-" Salamence mused as she decided to descend down to the absol. "-Haven't seen you around here before. What're you doing?-"

Absol glanced at Salamence, before quickly glancing back. Salamence tilted her head in confusion, until Absol gestured below. Salamence walked up to Absol and glanced down to see what the Dark-type was spying on. Down below was the entrance to Glittering Cave, but in front of it there were several helicopters stationed.

"-What the...?-" Salamence asked.

Several men and women, all wearing matching (and admittedly snazzy) red suits, were going in and out of the cave. Guarding the group was two other men, accompanied by two large, brownish-gray Pokémon with club-like tails, blade-like protrusions on their elbows and was partially covered by orange, rocky plates. The ones coming out of the cave were carrying massive rocks with them and loading them into the helicopters.

"-What're they doing...?-" Salamence muttered. "-...Are those fossils? What would they want with petrified bones?-"

Absol glared at the group down at the cave, before rising up from the hiding spot and lunging out towards them.

"-Whoa, whoa what're you doing?!-" Salamence yelled as Absol quickly descended to the group.

Absol freefell down towards the cave entrance, before landing on a man and smashing them into the ground, knocking him out.

"What the–?!" another red man blurted as they all turned to see Absol. "What the hell is this absol doing here?!"

Absol glared at all of them, before glancing at the helicopter. Growling, Absol shot a beam of ice at the helicopter, which was somehow intercepted by a stray rock from one of the hulking guard Pokémon.

"It's after the fossils?!" another man asked.

"Neutralize it!" the second man yelled, before yelling to the helicopters. "This is an emergency! Get out of here and head back to the main headquarters! The goods are being compromised!"

The pilots of the helicopters seemed to have gotten the message, as the helicopters began to ascend to the air. Absol tried to shoot the helicopters down, but the hulking guards stood in the way.

"Rhyperior, Rock Blast, now!" one of the men yelled.

The rhyperiors aimed their arms at Absol, before proceeding to shoot several rocks at the Dark-type. Absol avoided all of them, before proceeding to retaliate with Ice Beam. The icy laser blasted the rhyperiors, pushing them back. As Absol was fighting off the rhyperiors, Salamence was watching the battle from the cliff they were previously hiding at.

"-What a crazy girl...-" Salamence gaped. "-Randomly jumping into the fray and picking a fight like that...-"

Before Salamence could stand back up, she felt a sharp pain from her back.

"-Agh!-" she yelped, before turning around to see two large blue-purple vampire bat-like Pokémon, floating above her. "-What the...? Gliscors...?-"

One of the gliscors sneered as it clamped one of its pincers tauntingly.

"-Oh so that's what you want, eh?-" Salamence growled. "-Well if it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get!-"

* * *

Calem glanced to the sides as he slowly, treading over the rocky terrain of Route 9 carefully. With the news of strange people blocking off the civilians of Ambrette from the Glittering Cave, it would be natural if they kept a means of surveillance to make sure no one could sneak into Route 9. Thus, using the rental rhyhorns to safely traverse the rocky roads was out of the question, seeing as how it would be extremely rowdy and bring a lot of attention to himself. So he had no choice but to traverse on foot.

Calem kept glancing from side to side, then into the air, searching for any potential security, before moving on, being extra careful about keeping stealth on his side.

"Calem? Heeey! Calem!"

...Well, so much for keeping stealth on his side.

Calem looked behind him to see Serena and her friends, riding on the rental rhyhorns and approaching his position.

"What the hell...?" Calem grumbled. "What're you guys doing here? I thought I told you all not to follow me!"

"Did you honestly expect us to listen to that?" Shauna asked.

"We came here to investigate," Serena replied as they reached him. "What about you? You shouldn't be out here without a rhyhorn! That's dangerous!"

"I'm trying to sneak through the route," Calem grumbled. "And hulking around rhyhorns isn't exactly a good idea for stealth."

"But...then we would've been discovered by now," Tierno pointed out, pointing to the sky. "But here we are now."

"...You do have a point..." Calem muttered, glancing up to the skies. _'Could something else be distracting them then...?'_

"Well in any case, it seems to be safe enough to travel with the rhyhorns," Serena said, before beckoning at him. "Now, c'mon! Get over here! It's not safe to walk out on the rocky path like that!"

"Huh? Oh...r-right..." Calem muttered, rubbing his head.

Calem begrudgingly made his way towards Serena, who patted on the saddle she was riding on; the space that was behind her.

"Eh..." Calem muttered, until Serena insisted with a stern expression on her face; one that caught Calem off guard.

"Oh, her switch got flipped," Shauna commented amusedly as they watched Calem awkwardly get on Serena's rhyhorn.

"When it comes to these kinds of things, then Serena's surprisingly motherly after all," Tierno chuckled. "Honestly you wouldn't expect that from someone as normally shy and timid as her."

"Yeah," Trevor smiled, before it turned into a frown. "But...what Calem said does bring up a point...if there's someone keeping the people of Ambrette away from here, then why are we able to sneak in so easily...?"

"...Then we should probably move on and see what's going on..." Tierno suggested.

Meanwhile, Calem managed to sit behind Serena on her rhyhorn, carefully adjusting himself.

"Like this?" Calem asked.

"Yeah, just put a firm grip around my waist if you need to hold on," Serena instructed.

"Around your–okay then..." Calem muttered, before doing as instructed.

"Alright, let's get a move on then," Serena said as she signaled her rhyhorn to move forward.

"Ah, wait for us!" Shauna called out as they did the same.

"...But still, that wasn't a very smart thing to do, coming from you of all people," Serena scolded Calem lightly. "It's dangerous to traverse such an unstable ground like this by yourself."

"Like I said, I was trying to sneak through inconspicuously," Calem retorted.

"Even so," Serena said sternly. "You could've gotten seriously hurt."

Calem grumbled under his breath, before sighing in defeat.

' _I guess she has a point...'_ Calem thought. _'Even if I did want to infiltrate the route, going at it without the proper equipment would've been risky. I'll admit that at least. But still...'_

The boy glanced at Serena, who was focusing on the path in front of her.

' _Never expected her to take such a stern approach,'_ Calem mused. _'Considering how she kept acting so shy, seeing her act assertive is pretty surprising. Almost refreshing...now that I actually have a good look at her, she's pretty cute...long blonde hair, glistening blue eyes, smells pretty nice, all things considered, a bigger rack than Korr that's for sure–_

 _Wait what the hell am I thinking?!'_

Calem shook his head furiously, snapping him out of his thoughts and blushing profusely, much to his chagrin.

"C-Calem? Are you alright?" Serena asked, noticing the sudden movement.

"N-No, nothing's wrong," Calem muttered.

"If you say so..."

' _But still, Calem does some pretty reckless things sometimes,'_ Serena thought to herself. _'Like when he fought the hydreigon, and then Scyther, and when he stopped the doduo...he really needs to be more careful, or else he'll end up getting hurt. Well at least he won't fall off here since he's hugging my waist–._

 _Wait...'_

Serena stopped for a moment, before her head began to process what Calem was doing, and the girl blushed furiously when it hit her.

' _CALEM'S HUGGING ME!'_

Serena suddenly panicked from the thought, almost losing her balance off of the rhyhorn, and almost dragging Calem with her.

"Whoa! Calm down!" Calem yelled.

"S-Sorry...!" Serena stammered as she managed to regain her balance. _'He's actually hugging me...well granted I told him to so that he didn't fall off...but he's hugging me...this would be a dream come true if it was in a more romantic setting...'_

"Hmm..." Shauna said as she stared at Serena and Calem, whom didn't notice the other three. "Y'know, now that I'm staring at them and they're both acting like awkward hormonal high school kids, they actually do look kinda cute together."

"Huh?" Trevor asked. "Wait, I thought you were against them being a couple."

"Yeah, well at first, mostly because Calem's a jerk," Shauna said. "But Serena likes him a lot, and he's not a complete jerk as it is, and as her best friend, I want what makes her happy. And if being with him makes her happy, then who am I to go against that? Besides, if anyone's gonna make the ice prince over there defrost and open up, then it's definitely Seré."

"True," Tierno said. "Calem does seem to treat her better than us. Or at the very least he seems to be more comfortable around her, and acts less aloof around her than us."

As the crew approached closer to Glittering Cave, a commotion could be overheard.

"Huh, what's going on?" Trevor asked as they all moved in slowly and carefully.

As they passed a hill that was blocking the view, they all laid sights on a full-scale brawl at the front of the Glittering Cave entrance; with an absol taking on two rhyperiors that were being commanded by two men in red suits, while up in the skies, a salamence was spewing fire at two gliscors.

"Whoa!" Trevor gasped at the sight.

"Well now we know why we were able to sneak in so easily," Calem said. "And the salamence from earlier, I would assume..."

"...Wait, that's the absol from before!" Serena gasped, recognizing Absol. _'Is this what it was warning me about...?'_

Absol growled as she shot an Ice Beam at the rhyperiors, whom jumped back to avoid the attack and retaliated by shooting rocks at the Dark-type. Absol avoided the incoming projectiles, which then proceeded to head towards the rhyhorns.

"TAKE COVER!" Calem yelled as the rocks blasted into the ground, causing massive explosions of dust and rubble.

The rhyhorns, panicking, scattered away from one another, separating the group from each other.

"SERÉ!" Shauna cried out as her rhyhorn ran away from Serena's rhyhorn against the girl's will.

"You guys!" Serena cried out as the other rhyhorns ran away from their direction in panic.

"Tch!" Calem clicked his tongue as he reached for a pokéball.

"Wait, what're those kids doing there?!" a red man yelled, finally noticing them.

"Damn it, we were too busy with these things that we let intruders sneak in!" the other red man grumbled. "Rhyperior, aim for the brats over there!"

Absol gasped, before glancing behind her to see the group as Rhyperior aimed one of its arms at the pack of rhyhorns, before rushing to try and stop it. Unfortunately it led into her getting hit by the rock, before being blown back into the group and sent flying into Serena and Calem.

"SHI–!" Calem swore as he tried to get Serena and himself to duck, but wasn't fast enough and ended up getting knocked off their rhyhorn by the absol. While Calem fell and hit the ground, Serena took the direct hit of Absol, and was blown off the cliff. The girl barely grabbed onto the edge, while instinctively grabbing Absol.

"Kh!" Calem yelped as he was knocked off the rhyhorn, before noticing Serena hanging off of the cliff. "SERENA!"

The boy got up and rushed over to Serena, before grabbing her hand.

"Don't move!" he yelled as he began to pull Serena and Absol back up.

Salamence was able to swat off the gliscors to notice the chaos going on at the ground, before noticing Calem trying to lift Serena and Absol back up.

"-Holy–!-" Salamence gaped as she began to fly over to Serena, before feeling a sharp pain across her body. "-AGH?!-"

She eyed down to see the other rhyperior having shot a rock at her while she was distracted. Before Salamence could retaliate, one of the gliscors swooped down and sliced at the back of her head. Salamence was knocked out from the combination, unable to keep flight and falling straight for Serena.

"?! LOOK OUT!" Serena yelled, seeing Salamence falling down. Calem didn't have enough time to react as he looked up, witnessing Salamence falling straight for him

"FU–!" Calem blurted, as Salamence fell onto him, knocking him, along with Serena and Absol, off of the cliff.

"...Man, don't you think that was a bit too much...?" one of the men in red suits asked his partner.

"You heard the others. No intruders," the other man huffed.

"But they were kids," the first man argued. "And we kinda dropped a dragon on them and all...not to mention ended up pushing them off the cliff with said dragon..."

"Hey we're just doing our jobs," the other man shrugged. "It was either them or us, and I'd rather it be them than us. Now c'mon. Pretty sure there were like three other kids with them."

"...Yo, just leave 'em," the first man sighed as his rhyperior sighed as well. "What can three kids do anyways?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Shauna, Tierno and Trevor were already far away from them, gathered behind a platform.

"What do we do now?!" Shauna whispered. "We gotta go save them!"

"You really wanna try at the two rhyperiors out there?" Tierno asked.

"Then you just wanna leave them and run!?" Shauna growled at Tierno.

"What I'm saying is that we three can't take them on ourselves," Tierno reasoned, where Shauna realized that. "...Look I want to save them just as much as you do, but what if we fail trying? Then who will go save Serena and Calem?"

"Uh..." Shauna mumbled, looking too unsure.

"...We're all feeling the same, Shauna," Tierno smiled, comforting her. "But we can't afford mess this up. And most of all, we need to stay calm."

"...Right..." Shauna agreed. "Sorry..."

"It's alright," Tierno replied, before turning to Trevor. "Trevs, got any ideas?"

"...What if we got the people of Ambrette to help us?" Trevor proposed.

"Huh? But they're all staying away from here," Shauna pointed out.

"True, but what if we could somehow convince them to band up as a group?" Trevor asked. "Sure it would be near impossible if they did it by themselves, but what if they were to go at it as a united group? Surely our chances would be much better. We can even have someone send a search party from below."

"That's true..." Tierno agreed. "...At the very least we don't have any better ideas. Now we need to first get out of here without getting caught and then think of a way to convince the people there to help us."

"Right," Shauna and Trevor agreed, as the trio began to make their way back to Ambrette Town.

As their rhyhorns trudged through the rocky path, Shauna couldn't help but look back.

"Seré..." Shauna mumbled worried. "Please be alright..."

* * *

Serena groaned as she opened her eyes. The girl found herself drenched as she looked around; finding herself in the shallow waters of a beach.

"Huh...we're alright," Serena mumbled as she got back up, before groaning in pain around her torso. "...Or maybe not...well it could've gotten worse."

She looked around to see Calem, laying nearby her unconscious, along with an unconscious Absol and Salamence.

"Calem!" Serena gasped as she rushed over to wake up the boy. "Calem! Calem!"

"Ugh..." Calem groaned before waking up. "We're alive...?"

"Somehow..." Serena replied. "Are you alright?"

Calem got back up, before wincing in pain and falling back into the water.

"Damn it..." Calem muttered, glancing at his leg.

"Is it broken?" Serena asked.

"No, just a little sprained," Calem replied. "I should be able to move after a little rest."

"But you can't move...?"

"I mean I can...but it'll hurt like a bitch."

Serena looked around, until her eyes laid on their belongings, sprawled on the beach.

"Good, our stuff isn't wet," Serena said. "I should have some medical supplies in there. We can patch up your leg wound with them."

"Well that's good," Calem said. "But I can't really move..."

"Oh no worries, I can carry you," Serena smiled.

"Huh?" Calem asked, before suddenly Serena put her hands under Calem and effortlessly lifted him up a la bridal carry. "...What...?"

"Huh, you're pretty light," Serena commented. "C'mon, let's get out of the water."

As Serena carried Calem to the beach, the boy simply had a blank expression on his face, still somewhat confused and surprised at Serena being able to carry him, before groaning to himself.

"Are you alright?" Serena asked. "Does your leg still hurt?"

"No, just my pride as a man..." Calem muttered. "...Great, two girls that can actually carry me...Korr's never gonna let me live this down..."

* * *

As Serena placed Calem onto the beach near their belongings, Serena then proceeded to grab Absol and carry her to where Calem was, and then, to the boy's shock, proceeded to do the same to Salamence with relative ease.

"What the hell...?" Calem muttered as Serena placed Salamence near him. "Huh...you're...a lot stronger than you look..."

"Huh? Oh, well my mom wanted me to succeed her in rhyhorn racing," Serena explained as she dried her hair. "So as a kid I went through a lot of training for that since rhyhorn racing's a pretty hard thing to do."

"And that included strength training I would assume?" Calem asked.

"Yeah," Serena nodded. "Although it wasn't really working out...I'm kinda glad I was able to become a trainer instead. Even if I'm not too cut out for it..."

Calem simply kept staring at Serena while she went on as he took off his coat and dried it off.

"Ah–Sorry, I shouldn't be rambling on..." Serena stammered.

"No, it's alright," Calem shrugged. "Besides, you're not that bad of a trainer..."

"Really?" Serena asked.

"Normal trainers wouldn't have won against a Bug-type gym with a Grass-type," Calem said. "If anything, you're just growing as a trainer. You have potential, just be more confident in yourself."

"You really think so?" Serena asked.

"Yeah," Calem nodded as he got his bag and checked his belongings. "...At least all my stuff is here."

"Ah, that's right, lemme patch up that wound of yours," Serena said as she got her things and took out some bandage tape and a medicinal spray.

"Thanks..." Calem muttered as he let Serena tend to his wound, before rummaging through his bag and took out a hyper potion and a sitrus berry and leaned towards Salamence.

"Thanks," Calem said to Serena once she finished applying the spray onto his wound and wrapped it with gauze tape.

He managed to scoot over to the dragon, before spraying the potion at the obvious wound around her neck, causing the dragon to wince, before opening her eyes and noticing Calem.

"-You...-" Salamence grumbled, before wincing in pain.

"Don't move," Calem chided lightly as he showed Salamence the sitrus berry. "Just rest. You're gonna need it."

Salamence stared at Calem, before opening her mouth and prompting Calem to place the berry in there.

"-...You're a lot nicer than you look...-" Salamence muttered as she ate the berry, before closing her eyes again to rest.

As Serena saw Calem tend to Salamence, she rummaged through her bag to take out an oran berry and went over to Absol to check up on her.

"Hey, are you alright?" Serena asked, gently shaking the Dark-type.

Absol groaned lightly, before slowly waking up to see the blonde girl.

"Are you alright?" Serena asked, before presenting the oran berry.

The absol stared at Serena, before eating the oran berry.

"I saw what you did back there," Serena said. "You tried to shield that attack for us, right? I just wanted to thank you for that."

Absol simply smiled as she chewed on the oran berry. Serena smiled, before she glanced back to Calem, who watched Salamence sleep, before he released Froakie to let him get some air.

"...You're not gonna try and catch Salamence?" Serena asked Calem before she released Marisso to do the same. "I mean...I would assume this would be the perfect chance...seeing as it's immobile and all."

"...Catching it while it's down like this won't do me any good. Chances are it won't listen to me if I catch it while it's resting like this..." Calem retorted. "I'd rather earn its respect than simply catching it while it can't do anything."

"Huh...I guess you have a point," Serena said, before smiling. "...Y'know...you're a lot nicer than you make yourself out to be."

"...What's this all of a sudden?" Calem asked.

"I mean...you act pretty cold and distant," Serena said. "But you help me out a lot, you actually care about your Pokémon like Froakie and Bulbasaur, and now, you helped out Salamence. If anything, you're a nice person. Even if you don't look like it or act like it at times."

"Oh? And what if I was simply acting this whole time?" Calem challenged.

Serena looked a little surprised, before contemplating that. What if Calem had been simply acting nice? What if he really was cold and distant; just a really good liar?

"...Well, then that's that," Serena replied. "But I still believe that you're a nice person; even if you think otherwise. No matter what."

Calem hadn't expected an answer like that and was taken aback. "I-I see..." he muttered.

Marisso glanced at Serena, then back at Calem, confused at what was going on, and why they were at the beach. Froakie, meanwhile, simply stared at his trainer, seemingly studying his expression.

"...Let's focus on how to get out of this situation," Calem muttered, changing the subject. "I can't really move...and even if you can carry me, I highly doubt you can carry all of us at the same time; especially up this cliff."

"Right..." Serena mumbled as she sat down. "...Can any of your Pokémon fly?"

"Scyther can't carry all of us," Calem said. "And Blaziken needs to use Brave Bird to be able to fly, and I'm not taking the risk of him carrying you in the middle of an attack...If anything I'd rather stay low and avoid attracting attention to ourselves. We're not exactly sure if there's anyone here to worry about anyways..."

"...Huh...well, I guess we're stuck here, until either Salamence recovers enough and is willing to give us a ride, or we wait on Shauna, Trevor and Tierno to come get us," Serena concluded.

"...Y'know, you're rather calm, considering we're stuck here while being potentially hunted down," Calem noted. "I figured you would be panicking right about now."

"Ha ha...I guess so..." Serena chuckled mirthlessly. "...I am scared you know. Those guys in red suits might find us here. I'm scared of a lot of things...I'm a coward after all; I know that...and I'm not that strong...but...I know right now that being scared and panicking won't help anyone's case. So yeah I'm scared. I can't help but worry. But I gotta do my best to pull it together. So as to not make the situation worse.

"...And besides...if there's one thing I'm not afraid of, it's to worry about people I care about."

Calem raised an eyebrow at that statement. Well, it would explain why she seemed more assertive back at Route 9.

"And I also trust Shauna, Tierno and Trevor to come help us," Serena said. "I know they'll come through because they're my best friends. I know they can do it. And besides, if those guys in red do find us..."

Serena flashed a small smile at Calem.

"If it's with you..." Serena admitted, blushing slightly. "Then I feel safe. Like there's no need to worry."

Calem's expression became genuinely surprised. He didn't expect Serena to have this much faith in him. She completely believed in him and in his abilities. He didn't know why, but it felt somewhat refreshing; touching even, to know that. Serena, seeing Calem's expression, chose now to panic somewhat.

"Ah-I-I mean if those guys in red do find us, then we can take them...or I guess you can..." Serena began to suddenly stammer. "B-But I can help too! Even if they do have strong Pokémon like those rhyperiors and gliscors, I can at least help...and..uh.."

"Yo, calm down," Calem muttered uneasily.

"R-Right..." Serena mumbled, before taking a deep breath. "...Wow look at that. I said I would do my best to pull it together and not panic, and here I am acting like a mess...ehehe..."

"It's alright," Calem assured her. "Thanks...for the reassurance, I guess."

"No problem..." Serena mumbled. "A-Anyways! I'll go look for some food! You know what they say: you can't fight on an empty stomach, after all!"

"A-Ah...right," Calem said. "Froakie, go with her."

Froakie nodded as he hopped towards Serena, as she and Marisso got up to search for some food.

"W-We'll be back soon," Serena said as she left with Marisso and Froakie in tow, leaving Calem with a resting Salamence and Absol.

Now all alone with two sleeping Pokémon, the boy was left with his own thoughts. He certainly hadn't expected the answers he had gotten from her. It was strange, seeing someone that wasn't his friends have that much faith and belief in him. Especially considering he had acted pretty cold towards them and kept his distance. Yet despite that, Serena chose to believe in him. Even when there was still a possibility that he wasn't who he seemed to be, she still chose to believe in him.

And for some reason, he felt dirty for keeping his own secrets from her.

The boy sat there in silence, before he released Blaziken.

"...Go gather some firewood," Calem instructed. "I'm cold..."

Blaziken nodded without hesitation, before setting off to collect some firewood. The boy simply laid down on the sand, staring at the still-blue sky.

"...You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Serena..." the boy mumbled. "...At the very least, you're a lot stronger than I am..."

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN:** To be honest, this was originally supposed to go on up to the Glittering Cave, but I decided to cut it here in favor of focusing on more character development. Also I didn't feel like keeping it for that long. So anyways the gang reached Route 9, Serena and Calem were blasted off said Route and now are somewhat stranded on a beach below the route, and the duo had some heart-to-heart bonding time. And a cliffhanger for once. This is gonna be a lot more common, you just wait hue hue hue.

And here's the usual rosters, only this time Shauna gets a new member:

Serena: Marisso (Chespin) / Rill (Marill) / Salamé (Charmander)

Calem: Blaziken / Froakie / Scyther / Bulbasaur

Shauna: Kinniekins (Fennekin) / Kitkat (Skitty) / Squirts (Squirtle) / BB (Drifloon)

Tierno: Corphish / Fletchling / Budew

Trevor: Flabébé / Pikachu

Cuz y'know, she'd go for the cute balloon ghost, right?

Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time and take care.


End file.
